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TIGR / HGS Funding Relationship Reaches Early Conclusion
June 24, 1997 ROCKVILLE, MD-- June 24, 1997 -- The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) and Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (HGS) (NASDAQ: HGSI) today announced that they have signed an agreement whereby HGS will cease future payments to TIGR in return for relinquishing rights to future work done by TIGR. While this ends the TIGR/HGS relationship, HGS will retain all rights to patents granted now or in the future on work by TIGR prior to this agreement. Additionally, TIGR agrees not to...
Genomic islands in the pathogenic filamentous fungus Aspergillus fumigatus.
We present the genome sequences of a new clinical isolate of the important human pathogen, Aspergillus fumigatus, A1163, and two closely related but rarely pathogenic species, Neosartorya fischeri NRRL181 and Aspergillus clavatus NRRL1. Comparative genomic analysis of A1163 with the recently sequenced A. fumigatus isolate Af293 has identified core, variable and up to 2% unique genes in each genome. While the core genes are 99.8% identical at the nucleotide level, identity for variable genes...
Sequence and analysis of chromosome 3 of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
Arabidopsis thaliana is an important model system for plant biologists. In 1996 an international collaboration (the Arabidopsis Genome Initiative) was formed to sequence the whole genome of Arabidopsis and in 1999 the sequence of the first two chromosomes was reported. The sequence of the last three chromosomes and an analysis of the whole genome are reported in this issue. Here we present the sequence of chromosome 3, organized into four sequence segments (contigs). The two largest (13.5...
Asymptomatic Bacteriuria: Microbiome and Metaproteome
Clinical dogma is that healthy urine is sterile and the presence of bacteria with an inflammatory response is indicative of urinary tract infection (UTI). Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) represents the state in which bacteria are present but the inflammatory response is negligible. Differentiating ABU from UTI is diagnostically challenging, but critical because overtreatment of ABU can perpetuate antimicrobial resistance while undertreatment of UTI can result in increased morbidity and...
Genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle.
As an obligatory parasite of humans, the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is an important vector for human diseases, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever. Here, we present genome sequences of the body louse and its primary bacterial endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola. The body louse has the smallest known insect genome, spanning 108 Mb. Despite its status as an obligate parasite, it retains a remarkably complete basal insect repertoire of 10,773...
Comprehensive Genome Sequencing of Pathogenic Escherichia Coli and Shigella
Goals The complete genomes of four well-defined E. coli / Shigella strains are being sequenced to closure, in addition to eight genomes at draft coverage, totaling 12 genomes. This work significantly expands and complements the E. coli / Shigella genome projects that are completed or underway worldwide. The number of diseases that the members of these genera can cause underscores their diversity. We are addressing the breadth of this...
Montgomery County Companies, Organizations Provide Hands-On Science and Medical Education to Middle School Students
Rockville, MD — October 1, 2009 — Montgomery county middle school students will get a rare opportunity on Oct. 9 to learn first-hand about exciting career opportunities in medicine and science during the Frontiers in Science and Medicine Day at the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center. The event grew out of a collaboration among health-care providers, biotech companies, universities and research organizations that sit on the Rockville campus and is designed to help increase...
Unique Antibody Pattern Discovered in COVID-19 ICU Patients May Be Key to Predicting Severe Outcomes
While news of promising COVID-19 vaccine trials is heartening, the fight to control infection rates and develop effective treatments will be an ongoing challenge for science for years to come. Gene Tan, PhD and his collaborators are working on identifying testing models and tools that will allow more labs to safely work on the disease, identifying varying inflammatory responses to the disease for more targeted testing and treatment plans, and identifying...
About Nacyra Assad-Garcia
Nacyra Assad-Garcia is a Staff Scientist who joined the JCVI in 2002 from Celera. For the past 15 years she has been a microbiologist specializing in Mycoplasma genomics. She is an integral member of the synthetic biology team with expertise in manipulating and transplanting mycoplasma genomes (up to 1.1 Mb). This technology enables the changing of one mycoplasma species into another and is essential for the creation of synthetic and minimized cells.
Antibiotic Resistance in Plague
March 20, 2007 ROCKVILLE, MD — A small piece of DNA that helps bacteria commonly found in US meat and poultry resist several antibiotics has also been found in the plague bacillus Yersinia pestis, gene sequence researchers report. The ability to resist many of the antibiotics used against plague has been found so far in only a single case of the disease in Madagascar . But because the same ability is present in other kinds of bacteria from a broad range of livestock, antibiotic...