The Genome Center at Washington University

Researchers Finding Mutations in Second AML Genome

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:16:23 CST

Researchers are wrapping up their analysis of the second acute myeloid leukemia genome, Elaine Mardis, co-director of Washington University's Genome Sequencing Center, told attendees at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in Denver yesterday.

Life Science Technologies

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 14:40:53 CST

In November 2008 Elaine Mardis of Washington University in St. Louis and colleagues published the complete genome sequence of an individual with acute myeloid leukemia. Coming just a few years after the decade-long, multibillion dollar Human Genome Project, the paper was remarkable on several levels. For one thing, the team sequenced two human genomes, both cancerous and normal, some 140 billion bases in all. More impressive, though, was what the study omitted: the 50 human genomes Mardis sequenced that year (albeit not as deeply) for the 1,000 Genomes Project. "It's like a whole new world," she says. Welcome to the sequencing frontier.

Launch Pad for Rising Stars

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:59:41 CST

Rick Wilson can proudly claim to have been part of the breakthrough that led to the sequencing of the first human genome. In fact, Wilson's genome center at the Washington University School of Medicine helped provide more than a quarter of the sequence data for the Human Genome Project.

The Genomic Basis of Cancer

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 12:40:46 CST

Cancer is a disease of genes and of pathways, says Li Ding, a researcher at the genome center at Washington University in St. Louis. As head of the medical genomics group, Ding works to uncover the genomic changes that lead up to and are associated with human cancer. In particular, she is part of both the Tumor Sequencing Project and the Cancer Genome Atlas efforts. "My research mostly focuses on identifying the genomic alteration associated with human cancer," Ding says.

The Genome Center at Washington University Scales-Up on Illumina Sequencers

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 08:32:44 CST

llumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) announced today that it has reached an agreement in principle for the Genome Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to acquire 21 genome analyzers over the next several months to support the Center's expanding research initiatives. Once the scale-up is complete, the Center will have an installed base of 35 Genome Analyzers. The added capacity, along with the continued improvements to the Genome Analyzer platform, will allow the Genome Center to sequence in the order of one human genome per day at 25x coverage.

WUSTL program in national spotlight

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:32:44 CST

Washington University is in the spotlight for its pivotal role in the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP), a collaborative effort to provide research experience in genomics to undergraduate classrooms across the country.

NPHS grad helps map genome

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:40:35 CST

North Platte High School graduate Elaine Mardis was part of a team of scientists who, for the first time, mapped the complete genome of a middle-aged female cancer patient who died of acute myeloid leukemia.

'True landmark' reached in cancer research

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:43:20 CST

For the first time, scientists have decoded the complete DNA of a cancer patient and traced her disease, acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), to its genetic roots.

A research team at the Genome Sequencing Center and the Siteman Cancer Center at the School of Medicine sequenced the genome of the patient, a woman in her 50s who ultimately died of her disease, and the genome of her leukemia cells, to identify genetic changes unique to her cancer.

Scientists Decode Cancer Cell DNA

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:24:46 CST

Scientists reported decoding the entire genetics of a cancer cell. They did it by analyzing the cells of a woman with leukemia, reports CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook.

Discovery of genes linked to lung cancer opens door to personalized treatment

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:28:22 CST

Working as part of a multi-institutional collaboration, School of Medicine scientists have assembled the most complete catalog to date of the genetic changes underlying the most common form of lung cancer. The research, published Oct. 23 in Nature, helps lay the foundation for more personalized diagnosis and treatment of a disease that is the leading cause of U.S. cancer deaths.