<h2>DNA Dollars</h2>
Collecting DNA data is fast-growing market. Companies like 23andMe and Helix are offering you to tell you about your health and ancestry in return for a cotton swab of your DNA. But you have to pay them to get that kind of information — in most instances just shy of $100.
But that kind of data can be immensely valuable — not just to you, but to the company collecting it as well.
<h2>Blockchain Genomics</h2>
A just-launched startup called Nebula Genomics wants to <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2185211-a-new-dna-sequencing-service-wants-to-reward-you-for-sharing-your-data/">flip that value proposition on its head</a> by offering you a reward in the form of &#8220;Nebula credits,&#8221; which are stored on the blockchain.
Nebula, which we&#8217;ve <a href="https://futurism.com/crazy-startup-scientists-crypto-buy-genetic-data">reported on previously</a>, was co-founded by genetics heavyweight George Church — yes, the guy who wants to <a href="https://futurism.com/4-we-could-see-woolly-mammoths-resurrected-within-two-years">resurrect the woolly mammoth</a>. The idea is straightforward: the company sequences your entire genome for free, and stores all that data on a blockchain.
You can then decide where and when your genomic data is shared with other companies or research institutes. The more you share your data, the more Nebula credits you get. You can provide information about your medical history for even more credits.
That&#8217;s different from other companies like 23andme, which will <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/individual-data-consent/">ask for your consent</a> to share your anonymous genomic data with third parties.
<h2>Nebulous Value Proposition</h2>
Unfortunately, the value of those Nebula credits is iffy. You can&#8217;t exchange it for fiat currencies, and according to New Scientist, Nebula Genomics has <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2185211-a-new-dna-sequencing-service-wants-to-reward-you-for-sharing-your-data/">yet to decide</a> whether it will allow cash transactions at all.
You can pay Nebula with tokens for it to analyze your genomic data and tell you whether you&#8217;re at risk of developing various diseases.
There&#8217;s inherent value to genomic data, and offering some kind of value for sequencing and storing it makes a lot of sense. But when that value is practically worthless in the real world, it&#8217;ll be difficult to convince people to share their data.
READ MORE: <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/2185211-a-new-dna-sequencing-service-wants-to-reward-you-for-sharing-your-data/">A new DNA sequencing service wants to reward you for sharing your data</a> [New Scientist]
More on Nebula Genomics: <a href="https://futurism.com/crazy-startup-scientists-crypto-buy-genetic-data">Here’s What We Know About the Crazy New Startup Where Scientists Use Crypto to Buy Your Genetic Data</a>

This blockchain startup wants to pay you for your DNA data

DNA Dollars

A new startup called Nebula Genomics wants to reward you for your genomic data in the form of "Nebula credits." But will those ever be worth anything?

This Blockchain Startup Wants to Pay You for Your DNA Data

But don't expect to be paid in U.S. dollars.

<h2>Genome Analysis</h2>
In the 15 years since the human genome <a href="https://www.genome.gov/10001772/all-about-the--human-genome-project-hgp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was first sequenced</a> in a historic scientific achievement, genomic sequencing <a href="https://futurism.com/now-that-scientists-can-read-the-human-genome-they-want-to-write-one/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has become relatively routine</a>, with huge genomes being sequenced at incredible speeds. However, sorting through nucleotides and making educated guesses about their use can only get us so far. On December 4, <a href="https://github.com/google/deepvariant" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google released a tool</a> that may help: DeepVariant, which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and machine learning to more accurately build a picture of a person&#8217;s genome from sequencing data.
Machine learning is an application of AI that allows systems to improve without external programming or interference. By automatically identifying small insertion and deletion mutations and single base pair mutations, identified by a rapid method of genetic analysis known as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4494749/">high-throughput sequencing</a>, Google&#8217;s new AI can reportedly create an accurate picture of a full genome with little effort.
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Brad Chapman, a research scientist at Harvard’s School of Public Health who tested an early version of DeepVariant, <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/609647/google-has-released-an-ai-tool-that-makes-sense-of-your-genome/">told MIT Technology Review</a> that one of the difficulties in other sequencing programs lies &#8220;in difficult parts of the genome, where each of the [tools] has strengths and weaknesses. These difficult regions are increasingly important for clinical sequencing, and it’s important to have multiple methods.”
<h2>Applying Knowledge</h2>
In the early 2000&#8217;s, when genome sequencing became widely available for the first time, scientists lacked the ability to interpret the data being collected. DNA could be sequenced, but analysis of these large datasets led to inaccurate and incomplete genome pictures.
Since then, technologies and techniques have continued to improve. Google&#8217;s advanced analysis capability reportedly goes even further beyond what has before been capable. Existing sequence-interpreting tools typically identify mutations by ruling out read errors, but DeepVariant&#8217;s method is said to paint a more accurate picture.
To avoid the errors produced by other methods of high-throughput sequencing, the Google Brain team that developed DeepVariant fed their deep-learning system data from millions of high-throughput sequences as well as fully sequences genomes. They then continued to adjust their model until the system could interpret sequenced data with high accuracy.
Brendan Frey, CEO of AI health software company Deep Genomics, told Tech Review that, “The success of DeepVariant is important because it demonstrates that in genomics, deep learning can be used to automatically train systems that perform better than complicated hand-engineered systems.&#8221; <figure style="width: 360px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/bioprinting-how-3d-printing-is-changing-medicine/"><img src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2015/12/home.jpg" alt="Bioprinting: How 3D Printing is Changing Medicine" ></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text center"><a href="https://futurism.com/images/bioprinting-how-3d-printing-is-changing-medicine/" target="_blank">Click to View Full Infographic</a></figcaption></figure>
Even greater importance of such a tool may lie in its applications. A variety of diseases, ranging from cancers to diabetes to heart disease, are known to be genetically linked.
Medical professionals already take family history into account when diagnosing a condition; if they one day had access to your sequenced genome, analyzed by an AI capable of running through it quickly and accurately, they might be able to more accurately provide you with information about yourself and what you are at risk of.
A doctor could also more accurately prescribe treatment for the diseases that you already have — which is especially relevant <a href="https://www.cancer.net/navigating-cancer-care/cancer-basics/genetics/genetics-cancer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in diseases like cancer</a>.
This development is yet another step towards a future in which <a href="https://www.fda.gov/downloads/ScienceResearch/SpecialTopics/PersonalizedMedicine/UCM372421.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">medicine is truly personal</a>, and each patient is treated with such variations in mind.

The tool could one day be used by doctors to rapidly analyze a genome, treat disease, and prescribe personalized medicine.

Google released an AI that analyzes your genome

Comparing Mutant Cell and Normal Cell, Microscopic View

Artificial Intelligence

A new Google tool called DeepVariant is capable of analyzing genetic data rapidly and accurately by using a machine-learning system.

Google Released an AI That Analyzes Your Genome

And it may save your life. 

<h2>DNA ID</h2>
New software, developed by cooperating teams of researchers from <a href="http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/">Columbia University</a> and the <a href="http://www.nygenome.org/">New York Genome Center</a> (NYGC), will help to quickly and accurately verify identity using DNA. The method involves using the <a href="https://futurism.com/dna-sequencing-anywhere-anytime-oxfords-pocket-sized-tech/">MinION DNA sequencing device</a>, a small, credit card sized device that is capable of sequencing 10-20 GB of data in real-time, along with off-the-shelf technology like what is available commercially through outlets like <a href="https://futurism.com/23andme-is-raising-200-million-to-make-drugs-from-your-dna/">23 &amp; Me</a> or <a href="https://www.ancestry.com/cs/familyhistory?s_kwcid=ancestry+dna&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA9f7QBRBpEiwApLGUimucOChx53eM_DiECtdMkQiZBOrzAG9zSpbGuQs6m35Kp21VjqH1ABoCuj4QAvD_BwE&amp;o_xid=57465&amp;o_lid=57465&amp;o_sch=Paid+Search+Brand">Ancestry.com</a>.
According to the study&#8217;s senior author Yaniv Erlich who is a professor of Computer Science at Columbia Engineering, an adjunct core member at NYGC, and a member of Columbia&#8217;s Data Science Institute, &#8220;Our method opens up new ways to use off-the-shelf technology to benefit society.&#8221; This research was published in the latest issue of the <a href="https://elifesciences.org/articles/27798">journal eLife</a>.
In the two-step process, the researchers were able to take individual variants (unique nucleotides) from DNA sequenced with the MinION and apply a probability algorithm (called a Bayesian algorithm) to compare each unique set of variants with corresponding variants in other genetic profiles in the database. With each cross-reference, the probability of verifying a match increases, narrowing the search. Testing has shown that the system is capable of verifying a match between 60-300 cross-references and it takes only minutes.
The team likens their technique, which they call &#8220;MinION sketching&#8221; to the ability of our brains to identify recognizable images in abstract patterns. The study&#8217;s lead author Sophie Zaaijer, a postdoctoral researcher at Cornell Tech, compares the technique to someone making out a bird from a few features of something like a Picasso painting.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/182592328" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" title="Democratizing DNA Fingerprinting" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h2>Game Changer</h2>
This technology has a number of important potential applications. One such application will make it easier for disaster victim identification (DVI) experts to identify bodies after major disasters like plane crashes or earthquakes. Speaking to Vice, <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3bj8eb/what-is-it-like-to-identify-bodies-in-a-disaster">Richard Bassed</a>, an experienced DVI expert explained that the use of DNA to identify bodies is expensive and takes more time than other methods, like examining dental or medical records. The MinION and this new software may be able to reduce both cost and the amount of time it takes to achieve positive identification.
The technology can also help to mitigate wasted funds and time in important cancer research. Jon Lorsch, director of the <a href="https://www.nigms.nih.gov/Pages/default.aspx">National Institute of General Medical Sciences</a> (NIGMS) wrote a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5101941/">report in 2014</a> showing how the misidentification and contamination of cell lines in medical research are responsible for potentially more than $9 billion in wasted medical research funding on studies that cannot be replicated.
The new method will allow labs to easily verify cell lines at a relatively cheap price, leading to faster research and better allocation of funds, which will likely amount to better and more frequent breakthroughs.  Neville Sanjana, a core faculty member at NYGC and assistant professor at NYU&#8217;s Department of Biology stated,  &#8220;At the right price, every lab will adopt this.&#8221;
The ability to quickly, easily, and cheaply authenticate DNA has game-changing potential. The ability to identify bodies after a tragedy can help families and friends gain important closure. Eliminating resource waste in medical research can also help to speed along the next big life-saving discovery. The software is <a href="https://github.com/TeamErlich/personal-identification-pipeline">already available</a> for download on GitHub under a GNU General Public License, so your lab can begin changing the world today.

This has applications ranging from natural disasters to cancer research.

Using DNA, new software can verify identity in minutes

Hard Science

Teams of researchers have developed software that utilizes DNA sequenced from a small device to verify identity. The method has some exciting potential.

Using DNA, New Software Can Verify Identity In Minutes

The software works with a small portable DNA sequencer.

<h2>Genetic Database</h2>
Authorities in the city of Nanjing, the capital of China&#8217;s Jiangsu province, announced at the end of October that they would sequence the genes of 1 million individuals to build a genetic database of Chinese residents. This project is part of the National Health and Medicine Big Data Nanjing Center, a new data storage facility under construction in the region.
<a href="http://www.ecns.cn/2017/10-31/279069.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China News reports</a> that the project will focus on population genetics, including identifying genes linked to cancer and rare and chronic diseases, as well as genes linked to brain development in children and the effects of environment on genetics. Four experts, both from China and abroad, will advise the project, including Harvard geneticist George Church — a <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/02/how-battle-lines-over-crispr-were-drawn" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pioneer of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing</a> and leader of the project <a href="https://futurism.com/4-we-could-see-woolly-mammoths-resurrected-within-two-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to resurrect the woolly mammoth</a>.
<figure style="width: 820px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="wp-image-109949 size-large aligncenter hoverZoomLink" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/11/3700sequencers83-44-1200x956.jpg" alt="The Sanger Center, where large-scale human genome sequencing began in 1999. (Image Credit: the Sanger Institute)" width="820" height="653" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The Sanger Center, a contributor to the Human Genome Project, where large-scale human genome sequencing began in 1999. Image Credit: the Sanger Institute Wellcome Trust</figcaption></figure>
&#8220;When the facilities are ready, the designed capacity for DNA sequencing will be up to 400,000 to 500,000 samples per year,&#8221; Lan Qing, deputy director of the provincial health and family planning commission, <a href="http://www.ecns.cn/2017/10-31/279069.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told </a><a href="http://www.ecns.cn/2017/10-31/279069.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China News</a>.
The Big Data Nanjing center will have a capacity of 52 petabytes, enough to contain the health records of 80 million individuals and videos from 174 of the province&#8217;s hospitals, <a href="https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/jiangsu-government-unveils-plans-sequence-genes-1-million-subjects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yicai Global </a><a href="https://www.yicaiglobal.com/news/jiangsu-government-unveils-plans-sequence-genes-1-million-subjects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>. The center has already connected with several institutions, including Fudan University, Nanjing Medical University, and Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
<h2>The Spread of Sequencing</h2>
It took over a decade and $2.7 billion to sequence the very first human genome, completed by the Human Genome Project in 2003. Since then, genetic sequencing has rapidly become both cheaper and faster. An increasing number of companies and institutions are developing new methods of reading our most fundamental code, including small devices that can <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/bmjdjd/cheap-handheld-sequencers-are-the-next-logical-step-for-dna-analysis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rapidly sequence partial genomes in the field</a>.
According to <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/bmjdjd/cheap-handheld-sequencers-are-the-next-logical-step-for-dna-analysis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Motherboard</a>, two aspects of genome sequencing contribute to its cost: the &#8220;cost per megabase of DNA sequence,&#8221; or the cost to produce one &#8216;megabase,&#8217; or a million base pairs of DNA, and the cost of actually sequencing a human-sized genome, which contains about 3,000 megabases, which includes the cost of running the computer programs that perform the sequencing.
Around January of 2008, the price of both of these aspects sharply declined with the introduction of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3841808/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">next-generation sequencing technology</a>, also known as high-throughput sequencing. While there are several platforms available, all of them sequence millions of small fragments in parallel and then use a complete genome as a reference to map where these fragments should go. Such technology can sequence an entire human genome in just a day.
However, all of this rapid and cheap genetic data is fairly useless if geneticists can&#8217;t pinpoint the genes — and common errors within them — that cause health issues. Enormous genetic databases can be extremely valuable to doctors and drug companies seeking cures, as the commercial sequencing company <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/s/601506/23andme-sells-data-for-drug-search/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">23andMe has already found</a> by monetizing their database.
As such, projects like this one in Nanjing could be essential to finding the genetic basis needed to diagnose and treat some of the worst diseases that continue to plague our species.

Advanced genome sequencing has allowed for such an incredible project.

A Chinese province is sequencing 1 million of its residents' genomes

DNA sequence

Health & Medicine

A project out of China's National Health and Medicine Big Data Nanjing Center will sequence one million Chinese genomes to identify population trends.

A Chinese Province Is Sequencing 1 Million of Its Residents' Genomes

The project is being advised by Harvard geneticist George Church. 

A Chinese Province Is Sequencing One Million of Its Residents’ Genomes

<h2>Real-Time DNA Sequencing</h2>
In a paper published today in Scientific Reports , researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, detail for the first time the opportunities for plant sciences that are now available with portable, real-time DNA sequencing.
<figure id="attachment_97964" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-97964" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/intothewildf.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="480" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The field identification of two different white flowers Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea was achieved by sequencing random parts of the plants&#8217; genomes and comparing their new data to a database of reference genome sequences. Image Source: Alex Papadopolous</figcaption></figure>
Kew scientist and co-author of the paper Joe Parker says; &#8220;This research proves that we can now rapidly read the DNA sequence of an organism to identify it with minimum equipment. Rapidly reading DNA anywhere, at will, should become a routine step in many research fields. Despite hundreds of years of taxonomic research, it is still not always easy to work out which species a plant belongs to just by looking at it. Few people could correctly identify all the species in their own gardens.&#8221;
Over the last forty years, DNA sequencing has revolutionised the scientific world but has remained laboratory-bound. Using current methods, a complete experiment to identify a species, from fieldwork to result, could easily take a scientist months to complete. Species identification is, by nature, a largely a field-based area of pursuit, thereby limiting the pace of discovery and decision making that can depend upon it. Using new technology to identify species quickly and on-site is critical for scientific research, the conservation of biodiversity and in the fight against species crime.
<figure id="attachment_97965" style="width: 720px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-97965" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/1-intothewildf.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="480" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">The white flowering Arabidopsis thaliana was successfully DNA sequenced by Kew Scientists during their ground breaking research into field plant identification using hand held technology, the MinION. This was then compared to a similar plant, the Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea. Image Source: Alex Papadopolous</figcaption></figure>
In this new study, Kew scientists used the portable DNA sequencer, the MinION from Oxford Nanopore Technologies, to analyse plant species in Snowdonia National Park. This was the first time genomic sequencing of plants has been performed in the field.
This technology, commercially launched in 2015, has since been used in Antarctica, in remote regions affected by disease, and on the International Space Station.
<h2>Research</h2>
One of the successes illustrated in the paper is the field identification of two innocuous white flowers, Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea. This was achieved by sequencing random parts of the plants&#8217; genomes, avoiding the tricky and time consuming process of targeting specific pieces of DNA which is the more traditional approach for identifying species with DNA.
<figure id="attachment_97966" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-97966" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/08/2-intothewildf.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="480" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Kew Scientist, Alex Papadopolous, sets up a mobile lab in the Welsh Mountains to test the hand held MinION sequencer in plant identification for the first time. Image Source Alex Papadopolous</figcaption></figure>
The researchers compared their new data to a freely available database of reference genome sequences to make their identification. Crucially, replicating their experiment in Kew&#8217;s Jodrell Laboratory with other DNA sequencing methods allowed them to devise sophisticated statistics to understand the useful properties of this new kind of data for the first time.
Alexander Papadopulos, Kew scientist and co-author on the paper, says; &#8220;Accurate species identification is essential for evolutionary and ecological research, in the fight against wildlife crime and for monitoring rare and threatened species. Identifying species correctly based on what they look like can be really tricky and needs expertise to be done well. This is especially true for plants when they aren&#8217;t in flower or when they have been processed into a product. Our experiments show that by sequencing random pieces of the genome in the field it&#8217;s possible to get very accurate species identification within a few hours of collecting a specimen. More traditional methods need a lot of lab equipment and have often only provided enough information to identify a sample to the genus level.&#8221;
There are other useful properties of their data too. This field sequenced data can be used to assemble a whole genome sequence, act as a reference database for the species and help understand evolutionary relationships. Currently, the team is exploring the feasibility of rapidly generating a reference sequence database from the incredibly diverse collection of plants help in Kew&#8217;s living collection and herbarium as well as applications for monitoring plant health.
This article was provided by <a class="textTag" href="http://www.kew.org" rel="news">Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew</a>. Materials may have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Now, rapidly reading DNA anywhere, at will, is possible.

Earth & Energy

The team is now exploring the feasibility of rapidly generating a reference sequence database from the incredibly diverse collection of plants help in Kew's living collection and herbarium as well as applications for monitoring plant health.

Scientists Sequence a Whole Genome to Identify a Plant Species Within Hours

New opportunities are now available with portable, real-time DNA sequencing.

<h2>DNA-Repair Systems</h2>
Every day, the DNA in our cells gets damaged. This might sound scary, but it&#8217;s actually a normal occurrence – which makes DNA&#8217;s ability to repair itself vital to our survival. Now, scientists are beginning to better understand exactly how these repairs happen. A new sequencing technique that maps out and analyzes DNA damage demonstrates how bacterial cells function in two critical excision repair proteins: Mfd and UvrD.
The process, called nucleotide excision repair, has been used by a team from the <a href="https://www.med.unc.edu/">UNC School of Medicine</a> to gain a deeper insight into the key molecular functions of these repair systems, including the proteins’ roles in living cells. This repair process is known for fixing a common form of DNA damage called the &#8220;bulky adduct,&#8221; where a toxin or ultraviolet (UV) radiation chemically modifies the DNA.
The technique, called XR-seq lets the scientists isolate and sequence sections of DNA with the bulky adduct, thus allowing them to identify its actual locations in the genome. It has previously been used to generate a UV repair map of the human genome, as well as a map for the anticancer cisplatin drug.
For this study, scientists used the same method to repair damage caused by E. coli. As <a href="https://m.phys.org/news/2017-02-life-survives-basic-mechanism-dna.html">co-author of the study</a>, Christopher P. Selby, PhD explained:
<blockquote>When the DNA of a bacterial gene is being transcribed into RNA, and the molecular machinery of transcription gets stuck at a bulky adduct, Mfd appears on the scene, recruits other repair proteins that snip away the damaged section of DNA, and &#8220;un-sticks&#8221; the transcription machinery so that it can resume its work. This Mfd-guided process is called transcription-coupled repair, and it accounts for a much higher rate of excision repair on strands of DNA that are being actively transcribed.</blockquote>
<h2>A Potential Solution</h2>
<figure id="attachment_70749" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img class="wp-image-70749 size-medium" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2017/02/f32e6aa3-7f8a-435f-b883-1a798e9616e3-300x227.jpeg" alt="f32e6aa3-7f8a-435f-b883-1a798e9616e3" width="300" height="227" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Chris Selby, PhD; Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD; and Ogun Adebali, PhD</figcaption></figure>
In further experiments, the researchers defined the role of an accessory excision repair protein in E. coli &#8211; UvrD, which helps clear away each excised segment of damaged DNA. Essentially, think of Mfd as the DNA &#8220;un-sticker&#8221; and UvrD as the &#8220;unwinder.&#8221; Using the XR-seq method, scientists discovered evidence of transcription-coupled repair in normal cells, but not in cells without Mfd—implying that the protein played a key role in its repair process.
The team’s research and discovery not only heralds the use of this new mapping technique, it could also pave the way for a solution that will help address the pressing, global threat of antibiotic resistance.
“If we fail to address this problem quickly and comprehensively, antimicrobial resistance will make providing high quality universal health coverage more difficult, if not impossible,” the UN Secretary-General <a href="http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55011#.WJwwJhJ96fU">Ban Ki-moon said</a>. “[Antibiotic resistance] a fundamental, long-term threat to human health, sustainable food production and development.”
To support their current research, the team now plans to study XR-seq in bacterial, human and mammalian cells, to better understand the excision repair process.

A new sequencing technique that maps out and analyzes DNA damage demonstrates how bacterial cells function in two critical excision repair proteins.

Scientists Have Figured out How Life Is Able to Survive

This could help us combat superbugs.

<h2>How It All Began</h2>
You have probably heard of Charles Darwin. If you haven&#8217;t, you might have heard of his book, titled On The Origin Of Species. It was published in 1859 and led to Darwin becoming one of the early pioneers of evolutionary theory.
In this book, he envisioned a &#8220;Tree of Life,&#8221; which is essentially a map of the history of evolution shaped like a branching tree. The Tree of Life isn&#8217;t really the best metaphor for how evolution actually works (indeed, if we must use a metaphor, a spider’s web may be a better image—a twisted, chaotic mass of diverging lines and broken wisps the radiate outwards).
Nonetheless, the image of the Tree of Life has its uses, and it has led <a href="https://futurism.com/scientists-create-remarkable-tree-of-life-for-2-3-million-species-2/" target="_blank">many biologists</a> to trace (or attempt to trace) life on Earth in image form.
The discovery of DNA sequencing allowed scientists to view the precise order of nucleotides in a species&#8217; DNA. This showed scientists the genetic relationships among different species. These discoveries are what allowed Carl Woese of the University of Illinois and his colleagues to publish the first-ever &#8220;Tree of Life&#8221; in the 1970s.
<figure style="width: 1842px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img style="width: 800px;" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/04/PhylogeneticTree2C_Woese_1990.png" width="1842" height="1257" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">SOURCE: C. Woese et al. 1990</figcaption></figure>
Their &#8220;Phylogenetic Tree of Life&#8221; has three trunks, each labeled as Eukaryotes, Archaea, and Bacteria. The eukaryotic trunk houses the animals, plants, fungi, and protozoans. The bacteria trunk houses most commonly-known single-celled organisms, such as E. Coli. The Archaea trunk houses <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/07/science/under-the-sea-a-missing-link-in-the-evolution-of-complex-cells.html" target="_blank">extremophiles</a>.
<h2>A New &#8220;Tree of Life&#8221;</h2>
Armed with this basic start, scientists have long been trying to add to the tree.
Now, Jillian F. Banfield of the University of California, Berkeley and her colleagues found a new method&#8230;and a new Tree. They&#8217;ve been collecting microbial species in nature and disassembling and reassembling their genomes. They&#8217;ve effectively created hundreds of new microbial species, which you can see in the the remarkable &#8220;Tree&#8221; below.
Their findings are published in the journal <a href="http://www.nature.com/articles/nmicrobiol201648" target="_blank">Nature Microbiology</a>.
<figure id="attachment_32061" style="width: 564px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/04/treeoflife2.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-32061" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/04/treeoflife2.jpg" alt="SOURCE: Jill Banfield/UC Berkeley, Laura Hug/University of Waterloo" width="564" height="641" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">SOURCE: Jill Banfield/UC Berkeley, Laura Hug/University of Waterloo</figcaption></figure>
They&#8217;ve been collecting DNA from a huge range of environments, from California meadows to deep sea vents. With over 2,000 known species and DNA from 1,011 newly-discovered species, they created a new &#8220;Tree of Life.&#8221;
The entire history of eukaryotes (from amoeba to human) fits on one single, thin twig. This solidifies the notion that eukaryotes and archaea are closely related. But bacteria make up most of the tree&#8217;s branches. And a lot of the diversity exists right under our noses: &#8220;Meadow soil is one of the most microbially complex environments on the planet,&#8221; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/12/science/scientists-unveil-new-tree-of-life.html?_r=2" target="_blank">asserts Dr. Laura Hug</a>, one of the researcher in the study.
One long, skinny branch at the base belongs to a group of bacteria that seemed to have barely evolved since their beginning. This shows &#8220;survival of the fittest&#8221; and &#8220;adapting to suit one&#8217;s ecological niche&#8221; at its finest.
That said, there are some concerns about the new tree. Patrick Forterre, an evolutionary biologist from the Pasteur Institute in France, explains that the DNA collected from the field <a href="https://futurism.com/chimeras-genetic-modification-and-what-it-means-to-be-human/">might actually be chimeras</a>, already made up of different species. This would surely be an issue in splicing genomes.
But even with the concerns, Dr. Banfield doesn&#8217;t believe there will be much development on the bacteria side. If anything, we&#8217;ll see more evolution in eukaryotes.
How many more unknown species are hiding right under our nose? We don&#8217;t know exactly, but there&#8217;s definitely a lot more to discover.

A team of scientists unveiled a new tree of life on Monday, a diagram outlining the evolution of all living things. And the researchers found that bacteria make up most of life's branches. 

There’s a Revised “Tree Of Life,” And It Has 1000+ New Species

Scientists at Berkeley have created a new "Tree of Life."

<a href="https://www.illumina.com">Illumina</a>, the world&#8217;s largest DNA sequencing company, has formed an offshoot company called Grail that will work to develop blood tests that can detect many types of cancer before symptoms arise.
The tests will cost $1,000 or less.
<h3>Affordable Cancer Screening</h3>
<figure id="attachment_20990" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img class="wp-image-20990 size-medium" src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/01/blood-235x300.jpg" alt="blood" width="235" height="300" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_blood_test_and_examination_-_NARA_-_513715.jpg">Source</a></figcaption></figure>
<a href="https://futurism.com/links/scientists-made-a-device-that-can-detect-cancer-using-ultrasound-waves/">Catching cancer</a> early is vital. Certain tumors, when caught early, can be cured with surgery or radiation. More often than not, the earlier cancer is caught, the better chance there is to get the patient into remission. Considering this, the ability to test for cancer at a routine physical, just by drawing blood, is revolutionary.
And that&#8217;s exactly what Grail is pursuing.
The test is referred to as a &#8220;liquid biopsy,&#8221; almost like a simple blood test. This technique uses high-speed DNA sequencing machines to scour a person&#8217;s blood for fragments of DNA released by cancer cells. If DNA with cancer-causing mutations is present, it often indicates a tumor is already forming, even if it&#8217;s too small to cause symptoms or be seen on an imaging machine.
<h3>Obstacles</h3>
Currently, the only early-detection liquid biopsy test on the market in the U.S. is from Pathway Genomics, and it costs $699. This might sound like a steal, but since it remains unclear how well these types of tests work, that company received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration questioning its marketing claims.
“The hardest part is not only demonstrating the ability to detect cancer early, but being able to say this knowledge is in fact meaningful in terms of patient outcomes,” says J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer of the <a href="http://www.cancer.org/">American Cancer Society</a>. “I can’t tell you how many times we’ve said, ‘Oh, all we have to do is find every cancer early and we would solve the problem.’”
<figure id="attachment_20991" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img class="wp-image-20991 " src="https://wp-assets.futurism.com/2016/01/Vacutainer_blood_bottles-300x300.jpg" alt="Vacutainer_blood_bottles" width="250" height="250" /><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_test">Source</a></figcaption></figure>
To avoid the issues Pathway Genomics has encountered, and prove early detection is possible, Grail will spend millions on organizing clinical trials involving as many as 30,000 people. The results will show whether the tests are able to catch cancer earlier than established methods.
The project will be about three times as large as as Genomics England, a national effort to study cancer and disease in the U.K.
<h3>Opportunities</h3>
Grail has already raised more than $100 million from Illumina as well as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos’s venture fund (Bezos Expeditions), and Arch Venture Partners.
With this support, Illumina CEO Jay Flatley says he hopes the tests could be a “turning point in the war on cancer.”
If successful, the blood tests should reach the market by 2019. They will be offered through doctors&#8217; offices or possibly a network of testing centers.

Sci-Fi Visions

If successful, this could allow us to quickly and reliably screen for cancer without any invasive procedures. 

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