Okay Do-it-yourself Biology is coming of age, and we all seem to know that it won't be too long before the Feds step in and try to put a halt to all of the garage science. Until then, however, it seems as though the DIYers are going to make it to the mainstream news. Or at least to the NPR, check out this link http://www.npr.org/2011/05/22/136464041/biopunks-tinker-with-the-building-blocks-of-life

Nice job NPR..keep up the great investigative journalism..

So about 12 years ago I ran an oligonucleotide synthesis business.  There was as the time a wonderful observation that the presence of G residues next to a fluorescein dye would produce some level of quenching. 
That spurred my biochemical motors into action, and with a bit of brute force and biochemistry knowledge our lab came up with a great alternative to the guanosine quenching. The alternative is terrific because it could work with any underlying sequence...a patent was filed,... Read full post

Good news the automation of genome sequencing is closer at hand with the recent news of  instruments from Caliper in the mix. 
I remember a few years back when I spent some time with the folks form Caliper as they were bringing their Swinger online with the Roche 480 platform. That real-time instrument combined with a robotic arm was sure a sight to see.
Now if sample preparation could enter the dawning age of rapid diagnostics that would be something, at Fluoresentric we have been... Read full post

I love to see online oligonucleotide design programs, they are so wonderful because they are free.  One such program at IDT is great, but the only problem that I see with these programs is that they assume that just analyzing the oligonucleotide structure itself is sufficient to make for a great PCR assay.  Free is good, to be sure, but a little investment is assay success certainly makes the assay development work go more smoothly.  At Fluoresentric, we offer a simple and... Read full post

Chloroquine resistance is on the rise and that is no surprise, the incidence of drug resistant organisms is expanding exponentially.  Why? Primarily due to the un-restricted use of anti-biotics and in this case anti-malarials.  Our company at Signal Diagnostics (www.signaldiagnostics.com) has been working on this now and future problem with our drug resistance screening technology.  Check out this article from the Times of India,
Drug resistance poses new threat to malaria
If... Read full post

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=12281879
This article is worth checking out. I find that this short little article exemplifies the problems with GMO technology.  There doesn't seem to be a clear path to getting these things through the system so we can't blame the opponents of GM seeds.  In theory they are protecting all of us. 
On the other hand, without either a clear path to approval or scientifically sophisticated decision makers, any worthwhile GM foods or... Read full post

One last press release from Signal Diagnostics, a company which by way of full disclosure I started several years ago, about a newly issued patent. Here is the release:
 
SIGNAL DIAGNOSTICS, Inc. (SDx) and FLUORESENTRIC, Inc. (FL) (PARK CITY, Utah)—Biotechnology company SDx. and parent FL announce the issuance of patent U.S. Patent Application No. 12/058,627, System And Method For High Resolution Analysis Of Nucleic Acids To Detect Sequence Variations which is a break-through... Read full post

Okay, so we have been working on this sample prep technology for a while and today we release some news that the kit is ready for sale.  Check it out at Direct-2-PCR .  Here is the press release:
Fluoresentric, Inc (Park City, Utah, USA):
Diagnostic tests require DNA or RNA: New technology delivers both quickly
Fluoresentric, Inc announces the release of its advanced Direct-2-PCRTM sample kits for nasal, throat, and cheek swab diagnostic health tests.  This novel and... Read full post

Genome Sequencing is so awesome these days, check out where the science is as of today.  I can imagine that it won't be too many years before a copy of my genome will be available to my doctor and they will be scripting based on that information.  Science is so cool.

Signal Diagnostics  has patent issuing for screening potential Tb+ samples for the presence of Tb and determining the Tb drug resistance/susceptibility status.