ISB News

William Poole, 2013 undergrad intern

Former Undergrad Intern Publishes Algorithm in PLOS Computational Biology

Posted March 1, 2017 In a study published in PLoS Computational Biology, researchers at Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) have developed a multiscale mutation clustering algorithm (M2C) that identifies variable length regions with high mutation density in cancer genes. The M2C algorithm was developed by William Poole (first author on the paper), who started as a summer intern in 2013 as part of ISB’s Center for Systems Biology internship program….

A Landscape of Pharmacogenomic Interactions in Cancer

The journal Cell published a study today (July 7) about the integrated analysis of drug response in 1,001 cancer cell lines. This study was undertaken by a large international group of researchers including ISB Senior Research Scientist Theo Knijnenburg. The researchers integrated heterogeneous molecular data of 11,215 tumors and 1,001 cell lines in order to study the drug response of these cell lines to 265 anti-cancer drugs. They uncovered numerous…

Data Visualization from Largest Genetics Catalog of Deadliest Brain Tumor

In Cancer Research, It’s HOW That Matters

By Martin Shelton, Theo Knijnenburg and Joseph Zhou ISB Editorial Board Members The oldest existing record of cancer occurs in a 4000-year-old Egyptian papyrus. It describes, in detail, a woman with symptoms eerily similar to those of modern breast cancer patients. As for the prescribed treatment, there was simply this statement: “No cure.” Sadly, this short and assertive conclusion remains true. According to the American Cancer Society’s annual cancer statistics…

Cancer stratification: Using a systems approach to figure out cancer subtypes.

Cancer Stratification: A Systems Approach

By Theo Knijnenburg ISB Editorial Board Member When a patient receives a diagnosis of breast cancer, it’s a specific subtype of breast cancer, such as invasive ductal carcinoma. Each subtype is characterized by the shape and location of the tumor, its growth progression, prognosis and treatment. The ability to stratify, or group, cancer patients based on the specific characteristics of their cancer type, is the first step toward personalized cancer…

Now researchers can explore genomic data across space and time

The figure above is part of a four-step procedure for the multiscale segmentation of genomic signals. 3 Bullets: Understanding systems from a multiscale perspective gives us a more detailed and holistic view of how features or functions from each scale connect and interact in a given system. The challenge is integrating the different types of information that come from each scale in an efficient way that yields the most insight….