Luke Tallon, Senior Executive Director of Maryland GenomicsGetting DNA and high-quality sequence data out of challenging samples is Maryland Genomics’ superpower. As part of the Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Maryland Genomics is not like a typical commercial service lab. Located within the prestigious Institute for Genome Sciences since 2007, Maryland Genomics leads the way in high-throughput genomic analysis and their seasoned team of experts—including molecular biologists, bioinformaticians, and research specialists—brings over ..read more

  Cell and gene therapy research is crucial for biopharma development, with HiFi long-read sequencing significantly enhancing many sequencing applications throughout the process. Even though AAV sequencing is one of the newest applications of genomics, it is also one of the most promising in disease research today. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) ranks among the most actively experimented upon vehicles for gene therapy.1 Gene therapies using AAV and cell therapies like CAR-T hold the potential to cure previously incurable diseases. CAR-T cell cancer treatments, in particular, are showing g ..read more

  The organisms you study might be tiny, but the importance of the work you do is anything but. PacBio HiFi sequencing brings the microscopic world into sharp focus, offering the precision and long read lengths essential for pivotal work in areas like public health, pathogen surveillance, infectious disease research, drug development, and environmental cleanup. Curious about what HiFi accuracy can actually do for your microbiology and metagenomics research? Chances are, it’s much more than you think. Imagine pinpointing community composition down to the species or strain level, capturin ..read more

PacBio HiFi sequencing technology continues to be the tool of choice for genomics professionals working at the forefront of discovery, enabling them to pursue new avenues of exploration across diverse domains of biology. In this edition of our Powered by PacBio blog series, we highlight scientific papers from the month of April 2024. These compelling preprints and publications highlight the power of PacBio sequencing to sequence sugarcane, uncover isoform diversity of great apes, reveal splicing patterns in developing adult mouse and human brains, and more.   Jump to topic: Par ..read more

  The world is moving at a fast pace, isn’t it? Climate shifts, growing populations, and changing ecosystems are stacking up some serious challenges for species all over the planet, including our own. Researchers like you, working to figure out the complexities of plant and animal biology, are the key to protecting biodiversity and sustaining agriculture in this changing world. With advances in long-read sequencing technology, we’ve got a sharper toolkit. Now, we can detangle complex polyploid genomes and sequence through challenging regions like never before. These insights are crucial ..read more

Alternative splicing occurs when exons from the same gene combine in different ways, resulting in different (but related) RNA transcript isoforms, which in turn create different proteins with distinct structures and functions. Despite being “alternative,” this process isn’t rare. Up to 95% of genes in the human genome undergo alternative splicing. The resulting RNA diversity plays a key role in human biology, as different isoforms can be drivers of disease. For this reason, full-length isoform sequencing is a powerful tool that allows investigators to look at how alternative splicing disrupts ..read more

  The complexities of cancer biology are famously tricky to decipher. Peering into the murky cancer genome and making sense of tumor mechanisms has long been the goal of researchers everywhere, and technology has often felt one step behind. But the genomics landscape is evolving quickly. Now, researchers no longer need to be limited by the sequencing technology of yesterday. Today, cancer researchers are moving away from using only short-read sequencing and instead harnessing the power of long reads to see into the cancer genome, transcriptome, and epigenome to help characterize tumor b ..read more

  Hearing “the end of the beginning” or “the dawn of a new era” might sound like a grandiose way to describe a scientific milestone. Would it surprise you to learn these phrases were used in 2003 to celebrate the completion of the Human Genome Project? Despite the fanfare, only 92% of the human genome had been mapped then. Now, let’s leap to 2022. The once elusive 8% has been brought to light, thanks to HiFi sequencing, culminating in the first-ever complete “telomere-to-telomere” assembly of a human genome. Such an accomplishment might seem beyond the reach of everyday research, reserv ..read more

PacBio HiFi sequencing technology continues to be the tool of choice for genomics professionals working at the forefront of discovery, enabling them to pursue new avenues of exploration across diverse domains of biology. In this edition of our Powered by PacBio blog series, we highlight scientific papers from the month of March 2024. These intriguing publications highlight the power of PacBio sequencing for fusion detection, immunology, looking into divergent and mutated regions of primate genomes, and understanding how stimulated saliva interacts with wine.   Jump to topic: Ge ..read more

  In the fast-evolving landscape of genomics, the pace can be dizzying, and the fear of falling behind is real. Genomic research undergoes constant change, so if you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s available, you need to know the facts. Not too long ago, long-read sequencing was an emerging technology. Today, PacBio HiFi long reads are routinely used across the world to sequence thousands of genomes, epigenomes, and transcriptomes. HiFi sequencing applies to projects large and small, from academic research endeavors to large-scale population health studies. The rate of t ..read more