New to VarSeq 3 is support for breakend catalogs. Breakends represent the junction points of structural variants, which include complex genomic rearrangements like translocations, inversions, and large deletions that play crucial roles in cancer genomics and rare disease analysis. These catalogs are unique as they must save two genomic positions for each record, representing both sides of the structural variant… Read more »
We’re excited to announce a powerful new feature in GenomeBrowse that enhances our support for visualizing long-read sequencing data: the ability to color reads by base modifications, such as DNA methylation, directly from BAM and CRAM alignment files. Long-read sequencing technologies like those from PacBio and Oxford Nanopore have unlocked the potential to directly detect base modifications, including cytosine methylation… Read more »
Modern genomics workflows often require multiple specialized tools working in concert. In the upcoming VarSeq release, we are excited to announce the option for tighter integration with IGV. Genomics researchers and clinicians are well-versed in using IGV as a visualization tool for their genomic data. This new option will allow for synchronizing the view in the Golden Helix GenomeBrowser with… Read more »
Today, we announced the release of VarSeq 3 and VSWarehouse 3, marking a major milestone in enterprise-scale secondary and tertiary genomic analysis. The release introduces cloud-native deployment options optimized for AWS and Azure, expanded support for hybrid and on-premise support, flexible licensing models, including per-sample packaging tailored to small and mid-sized labs. To support these new deployment and licensing models,… Read more »
Creating and managing sample manifest files in VarSeq has traditionally been a time-consuming process that demands precision and attention to detail. The upcoming VSWarehouse 3 release will feature the ability to use catalogs to save and load sample fields in VarSeq projects. Not only will this allow for easy population of sample fields in VarSeq, but it also has the… Read more »
VSWarehouse 3 (VSW3) is a powerful genomic data warehousing solution that gives laboratories full control over their cloud deployments while ensuring security and flexibility. One of its most exciting new features is the ability to run custom applications directly from the browser. This means that users can launch specialized tools to analyze and visualize genomic data without leaving their secure… Read more »
Clinical variant analysis experts with fully integrated workflows are often hesitant to upgrade or migrate their workspace, and rightly so. Similarly, those looking for new next-generation sequencing analysis software, whether for secondary (alignment and variant-calling) or tertiary (variant annotation, filtration, interpretation, and reporting) analysis, can be easily daunted by the breadth and depth of the process of setting up a… Read more »
In our recent post on VSWarehouse 3, we discussed how our comprehensive workflow system streamlines genomic analysis pipelines by directly integrating with your existing cloud infrastructure. Today, we will explore how you can use VarSeq to analyze the data produced by these workflows directly in your browser. Bringing VarSeq to Your Browser With VSWarehouse3, our premier variant analysis platform is… Read more »
Following up on our recent post about VSWarehouse 3’s Bring Your Own Cloud capabilities, we wanted to dive deeper into one of its most powerful features: our comprehensive workflow system. This system is designed to streamline genomic analysis pipelines while providing flexible integration with various cloud genomics providers. Understanding VSWarehouse 3 Workflows At its core, VSWarehouse 3’s workflow system is… Read more »
I am pleased to announce that VarSeq 2.6.2 is now available! VarSeq 2.6.2 comes jammed-packed with new features and capabilities to advance your NGS analysis workflows. In this blog, I will describe the major changes to the VSPGx workflow, which were the main focus of the release, and I will also talk about other exciting features and new algorithms that… Read more »
DNA methylation is becoming more relevant as a clinically important biomarker, and long-read pipelines are making it easy to get this information in the same sequencing run as small variants and larger structural variants. Even though there are no official guidelines for addressing DNA methylation, it is still useful to analyze and evaluate this data, so we would like to… Read more »
In a recent blog post, we explored how phased genotypes provide crucial insights by separating variants into distinct haplotypes—groups of alleles inherited together from a single parent. We also discussed how the combined impact of multiple variants within the same gene can significantly differ from their individual effects. However, accurately assessing the joint impact of these in-phase variants is a… Read more »
In the upcoming release of VarSeq 2.6.2, we have added the ability to force call reference alleles using the BAM files associated with the sample. This feature extends the current force call functionality, which allows filling in reference alleles from GVCFs. This is an important option to enable when running pharmacogenomics pipelines with VarSeq, as it allows for inferring the… Read more »
The recent release of VarSeq 2.6.0 was filled with so many customer-requested features (for example, our long-awaited PGx workflow!) that some of our other new features have not yet had their time in the spotlight. For this blog, we are thrilled to announce that with the release of VarSeq 2.6.0, we have made WGS CNV calling more user-friendly than ever… Read more »
The release of VarSeq version 2.6.0 provides many new features. Most notably is our support for tertiary analysis of Pharmacogenomic (PGx) data. VarSeq not only calls the necessary gene diplotypes for your PGx panels but also handles large batches of samples from the called diplotypes to final report on drug recommendations. Here is a link to a recent webcast demonstrating… Read more »
We have been building up to the final release of VarSeq 2.6.0 for a couple of weeks now, but we are excited to announce that 2.6.0 is officially available! VarSeq 2.6.0 is an exciting release as this version of VarSeq features the introduction of VSPGx, offering a complete pharmacogenomic workflow, including data import, variant analysis, and report generation. We have… Read more »
VSPGx is a pharmacogenomics interpretation software based on CPIC recommendations. The field of pharmacogenetics bridges genetics and pharmacology, with the aim of optimizing drug therapies for individual patients based on their unique genetic makeup. It has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by improving drug efficacy, reducing adverse reactions, and advancing the concept of personalized medicine moving away from a one… Read more »
Today, we will be exploring the indispensable role of GenomeBrowse in your VarSeq workflows. This blog aims to guide you through various customization options, including color preferences, filtering techniques, display modifications, numeric value plotting, and additional tips. I hope to enhance your GenomeBrowse experience and enable you to gain valuable insights into your data. Let’s jump in by talking about… Read more »
Thank you to those who attended our recent webcast on Golden Helix’s SNP & Variation Suite (SVS) and its new capability related to Polygenic Risk Scores (PRS). If you were unable to attend, a recording can be found via this link. For common diseases, PRS can provide a predictive value related to the disease risk at an individual level. By… Read more »
As many of you may already know, we just released VarSeq version 2.5.0 this month! We have talked about the two headlining features a bunch, but we have not focused on what else has changed in VarSeq 2.5.0 that might also strike your fancy. For those of you who might just now be tuning into the hype around 2.5.0, it… Read more »