Medical Journal Houston | Page 5

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical . . . Journal . . . -.Houston . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 2016 Page 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TECHNOLOGY Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have announced a new method for detecting DNA mutations in a single cancer cell versus current technology that analyzes millions of cells which they believe could have important applications for cancer diagnosis and treatment. The results are published a recent online issue of Nature Methods. E x i s t i n g t e c h n o l o g y, known as nextgeneration sequencing (NGS), measures genomes derived from millions of cells versus the newer method for single-cell sequencing, called Monovar. Developed by Ken Chen, Ph.D. MD Anderson researchers, Monovar allows scientists to examine data First computer program developed to detect DNA mutations in single cancer cells from multiple single cells. The study was, in part, funded by MD Anderson’s Moon Shots Program, an unprecedented effort to significantly reduce deaths from cancer. This led to the development of newer technology, called single cell sequencing (SCS), that has had a major impact in Cutline: Ken Chen, Ph.D. “NGS technologies have vastly improved our understanding of the human genome and its variation in diseases such as cancer,” said Ken Chen, Ph.D., assistant professor of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology and coauthor of the Nature Methods article. “However, because NGS measures large numbers of cells, genomic variations within tissue samples are often masked.” many areas of biology, including cancer research, neurobiology, microbiology, and immunology, and has greatly improved understanding of certain tumor characteristics in cancer. Monovar improves further on the new SCS’s computational tools which scientists found “lacking” by more accurately detecting slight alterations in DNA makeup known as single nucleotide variants (SNVs). “To improve the SNVs in SCS datasets, we developed Monovar,” said Nicholas Navin, Ph.D., assistant professor of Genetics and co-author of the paper. “Monovar is a novel statistical method able to leverage data from multiple single cells to discover SNVs and provides highly detailed genetic data.” t THE FIRST MICRO CONDO IN TEXAS DON’T MISS PRE-CONSTRUCTION PRICING FROM $159-600K, RANGING FROM 300-1000 SQFT CONVENIENTLY LOCATED 2 MINUTES FROM DOWNTOWN, 10 MINUTES TO THE MEDICAL CENTER VISIT THE SALES CENTER TODAY TO WALK THROUGH UNITS EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED AND NOTHING MORE. 713.489.5638 2604 Leeland | Houston, TX 77003 TheIvyLofts.com