Jeffrey Epstein’s tissue samples ignited a furor in the Harvard lab of George Church, reports @mmolteni.bsky.social in this @statnews.com exclusive. 13 years later, the whereabouts of the sex offender’s skin cells are a mystery
www.statnews.com/2026/02/24/e...
Illumina officially launches TruPath, their pseudo-long read sequencing kit (formerly called Constellation), at #AGBT #AGBT25
www.illumina.com/company/news...
It definitely feels like a shift in market strategy for Element. Maybe feedback from investors? The shift is a bit surprising to me as I’m just not sure it’s differentiating enough to really move the needle.
I have a little more detail and some commentary here - sandiegomics.com/element-join...
Element reveals more information about their VITARI platform, a foray into the high-throughput sequencing market. sandiegomics.com/element-join...
PacBio’s very expensive foray into short read sequencing is now officially over. 🙄
www.pacb.com/press_releas...
Non-coding DNA's Alpha Moment
🧬🖥️
omicsomics.blogspot.com/2026/02/non-...
Some close encounters with Jim Watson:
www.genengnews.com/topics/omics...
Some consolidation in the single cell space - 10X Genomics (@10xgenomics.bsky.social) set to acquire Scale Biosciences
www.genengnews.com/topics/omics...
📢 We are very proud to announce that over 50 of our #AVITI24 5D #multiomic systems have already been installed around the globe enabling scientists to unravel the most complex questions about our biology.
bit.ly/458UCky
Atlas, Twist's DNA data storage spin-off, is claiming that "pretty quickly" the majority of DNA sequencing (by "orders of magnitude") will be for reading data storage. I'm skeptical. Maybe we have different definitions of "pretty quickly".
#dnasynth #datastorage
www.genomeweb.com/business-new...
Quick update on this - a good one!
Thanks to our fantastic colleagues at county HHSA, we're able to continue our wastewater surveillance work, including generating retroactive data from the last few months, as well as new data moving forward.
For how long, we'll see, but expect updates soon! 🌟❤️
So the Soma kit may do well, but my guess is it will be a lot harder for ILMN to sell proteomics kits than it is for them to sell standard DNA sequencing kits. And, as you’ve said, can they build upon what they’re buying from Soma.
I didn’t say they only sell boxes, but that they struggle selling inexpensive things (even it’s still a box). The exception, of course, are the kits that run on the boxes - those sell really well.
Updated a broken link in my substack post about the
#ColossalBio #DeExtinction #DisInformation campaign – dire wolves are still extinct.
open.substack.com/pub/devoevom...
And hopefully ILMN will get better at selling things (like kits) that don't cost $1M+. They don't have a great history at trying to broaden their product portfolio with lower cost products. This may be different enough to break that pattern.
True, they don't need to dominate like they do is sequencing. I just wonder how well SomaLogic will do against Olink. There are LOTS of proteomics platforms out there (which will continue for the foreseeable future), but these two are more "head to head". I'm not sure ILMN picked the best one.
Illumina goes “all in” on proteomics by purchasing SomaLogic (from
Standard BioTools). Can they overtake Olink?
www.illumina.com/company/news...
Can't wait to listen to this one!
The most charitable thing I can say about Twist’s (@twistbioscience.com) China tariff request is that it’s “unconvincing”. Tariffs aren’t the way to protect IP. This is just about making Chinese DNA more expensive.
endpoints.news/twist-biosci...
downloads.regulations.gov/BIS-2025-002...
@jaredwhitlock.bsky.social has written an article about the many new companies spun out/spawned by ex-Illuminites. In it he references the crowdsourced "Illumina Diaspora" database Millard Chan and I created to keep track of them all.
sandiegomics.com/illumina-dia...
endpts.com/how-illumina...
Roche has finally given their upcoming DNA sequencer a name - Axelios. So now we can stop calling it "Genia + Stratos".
www.genomeweb.com/molecular-di...
I should have put “win” in quotes. Kinda like a guy saying “Decided I’m too busy to punch you today”. Winning? Also, “wins” have been so infrequent they might have forgotten what they look like. We fear what we don’t understand 🤣
Illumina hasn't had a lot of wins recently. I think they'd count this as a win.
endpts.com/sec-expected...
This has to be one of the most "anti-science" and "anti-common sense" administrations the US has ever had. Tariffs are a tax, pure and simple and the consumer will be the one to pay the cost.
@twistbioscience.com is spinning out their DNA data storage tech. Atlas Data Storage is kicking off with $155M in "seed" funding 😳 That's a lot of "seed" for a market that doesn't exist yet. Best of luck! #dnasynthesis
investors.twistbioscience.com/news-release...
Novartis announced a big commitment/addition to the San Diego biotech scene.
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/04/10/a...
Things just keep getting worse for ILMN. Stagnant growth, increased competition from @elembio.bsky.social and Ultima, the threat of competition from Roche SBX, and now they’re shut down in China where they get 7% of their revenue. Yikes.
www.reuters.com/business/hea...
Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
