As I prepared to write the Customer Publication blog this month, I was excited by the number of recently published papers that stood as examples of how both VarSeq and SVS software are employed to advance diagnostics and treatments in human medicine. We often think of SVS as the go-to platform for Agrigenomics, however both of our platforms have broad… Read more »
The University of Washington’s Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion (CADD) algorithm measures the deleteriousness of genetic variants. This includes single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNVs) and short insertions and deletions (indels) throughout the human reference genome assembly. This algorithm was introduced in 2014 and has since become one of the most widely used tools to assess human genetic variation. Since 2014, the algorithm has been… Read more »
We have had many customers come to us over the years with a simple problem: they have BAM files for whole exome or gene panel data and would like to call CNVs using VarSeq’s powerful CNV calling capabilities, but they don’t have a bed file defining the target regions for their samples. To address this problem, we have developed a… Read more »
An under-appreciated area of complexity when looking into the field of genetics from the outside can be found in genes and transcripts. Alternative splicing allows eukaryotic species to have a wonderfully powerful genetic code, resulting in multiple protein isoforms being encoded in a single section of DNA. But when it comes to variant interpretation, different transcripts can result in widely different predicted… Read more »
In VarSeq 2.2.1, you can set template annotation sources to automatically update to the latest version. Previously, VarSeq templates were frozen in time. Now, each new project created from a template would use the same source that was used when the template was created. When you save a template, you can have the sources automatically update to the latest version…. Read more »
This morning I released a new version of my eBook “Clinical Variant Analysis for Cancer – Second Edition.” The clinical utilization of Next-Generation Sequencing data to diagnose cancer has taken off, resulting in the need to standardize the interpretation and reporting of observed genomic variations. This eBook explores the entire clinical diagnostic process. It demonstrates how Golden Helix software can support clinicians with their… Read more »
Thank you to everyone who joined me for our latest webcast, “Next-Gen Sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 Virus with Golden Helix.” If you missed the live event and are interested in knowing what we talked about, you may access the recorded event below: Our Live Q&A generated a lot of great questions. Unfortunately, we were unable to answer them all, but… Read more »
In trio workflows, one of the most important factors in scoring a variant is understanding how that variant is inherited from the parents. Likewise, when looking at extended families, the segregation, or presence of the variant among the affected versus unaffected individuals provides evidence for its pathogenicity for a given phenotype or disease. Given the nature of Copy Number Variants… Read more »
VarSeq 2.2.1 was released on April 1st and features an upgraded gene annotation capability with new RefSeq genes tracks and an AMP workflow addition: the Drugs and Trials tab. The new RefSeq human genome genes tracks contain updated gene names and the recognition of any MANE (Matched Annotation from NCBI and EMBL-EBI) identified transcripts. VarSeq has been updated to be… Read more »
Thank you to everyone who joined me for yesterday’s webcast, I hope you all enjoyed it. If you missed the live event and are interested in knowing what we talked about, good news, you can watch the recorded version right here! There were so many great questions asked during our Live Q&A that I was unable to answer all of… Read more »
Our Support Team curates a variety of tutorials to help orient new users to the capabilities of VarSeq. We are happy to announce the team’s new release of the trio tutorial that places emphasis on using the ACMG guidelines. This tutorial gives insight into the proper setup of pedigree structure as well as detailed descriptions of the filter containers and… Read more »
In these very uncertain times, it has been uplifting to read the wonderful work Golden Helix customers have been doing across the globe! This month, the focus of this blog is on published articles relating to congenital defects and early development. Congratulations to all our customers who have published papers and please enjoy a small sampling of their work. To… Read more »
Generating a clinical report is the final step of most NGS pipelines and is important as it relays results and information to legacy systems, physicians and ultimately the patient. As reporting is a valuable process, Golden Helix offers reporting capabilities according to the ACMG and AMP guidelines but also as a standalone feature in VSReports. VSReports is a platform that… Read more »
At Golden Helix, we want our new users to hit the ground running with VarSeq and not spend oodles of time getting started building and automating their workflows. To achieve this goal, our team has generated blogs, webcasts, and tutorials that explain and demonstrate workflows that are possible with VarSeq. Each VarSeq tutorial offers step by step instruction in which… Read more »
Since the initial release of the copy number variant algorithms in VarSeq, our team has created a variety of content to help users get started with building their copy number variant projects. In our webcast library, you can find a few of our recent webcasts in 2019 covering CNV workflows and validation: Or, if you prefer to take a more… Read more »
Golden Helix is in a unique position to provide a secure on-premise analysis solution. This capability is based on two enablers. First, we build our software solutions from scratch and from the ground-up with the assumption that it should run on any operating system and potentially behind firewalls or even without internet access. Second, we provide these solutions on a licensing model based on training and supporting users, not… Read more »
As many of our users know, VarSeq comes shipped with various project templates that are designed to give users a baseline workflow to get started with their projects. These templates are tailored for various applications including tumor-normal, trios, cancer and hereditary gene panels, and ACMG Guidelines workflows. The templates contain application-specific annotation sources and algorithms that will automatically load into… Read more »
Customizing VSClinical ACMG Guidelines Workflow Part 2 In the first part of this series, we covered how VarSeq provides customization of the clinical analysis workflow process. VSClinical’s various customization parameters within the ACMG Guidelines workflow includes the choice of how the internal knowledge base of previous variant interpretations are stored and what considerations go into this choice. In this blog, we… Read more »
Hospitals and testing labs are undergoing a digital transformation like any other business in our time. They deal with personal data in categories with the highest level of security requirements: personal identity and medical records. The architecture chosen to store and analyze this data is critical to provide the best protection against a data breach incident. The liability and institutional… Read more »
When interpreting a variant using the AMP/ASCO guidelines for somatic variant interpretation, clinicians must determine whether the variant can be considered a biomarker that affects clinical care by predicting sensitivity, resistance, or toxicity to a specific therapy. Such a determination requires the investigation of multiple evidence sources, including clinical trials, FDA approved therapies and peer-reviewed studies. Unfortunately, strong evidence linking… Read more »
