ISB News

Drs. Jennifer Hadlock and Samantha Piekos

COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters Associated with Lower Rates of Stillbirth, New ISB Study Shows

Pregnant people who are vaccinated are less likely to contract COVID-19 than unvaccinated pregnant people, and those vaccinated and boosted are less likely to get COVID than those who are vaccinated only, according to the first-ever large study of boosters and pregnancy.

ISB researchers

Unveiling the Guerrilla Warfare Tactics of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis

ISB researchers have unveiled new insights on how Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the pathogen that causes tuberculosis, enters and exits a dormant state in human hosts. About a quarter of the world’s population has latent TB, so these important findings will enable and accelerate the discovery of more effective TB drugs.

How Old Are You? Your Body Might Disagree With That Answer

Researchers at ISB harnessed deep molecular and physiological information to determine an individual’s biological age, which they found was reflective of overall health compared to chronological age. The findings were published in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A.

Reconstructing 'Ötzi' the Iceman’s last meal

Members of the Moritz lab, as part of an international consortium centered in Bolzano Italy, reports this week in Cell, “Current Biology”, a multi-omic approach to identify the stomach contents and microbiome of the 5300 year old Mummy, Oetzi, the Iceman from the Oetzal Alps on the Austrian/Italian border.

TCGA, ISB Researchers Identify Potential Drug Targets for Leading Form of Deadly Liver Cancer

June 19, 2017 Researchers in ISB’s Shmulevich Lab and their colleagues in The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network performed the first large-scale, multi-platform analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma, the predominant form of liver cancer. Study was published on June 15, 2017, in the journal Cell. 3 Bullets: Liver cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer worldwide. ISB researchers and colleagues from The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network…

ScienceNews Features ISB’s Bipolar Disorder Research in the News

ScienceNews posted a news brief about ISB’s latest research publication that discuss results from the first major whole-genome study of bipolar disorder. Researchers describe a breakthrough in understanding the genetic “architecture” of bipolar disorder and in identifying some of the risk genes. Read more about the research here.

A breakthrough in understanding the genetic ‘architecture’ of bipolar disorder

3 Bullets: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a common, severe and recurrent psychiatric disorder with no known cure and substantial morbidity and mortality. Heritable causes contribute up to 80 percent of lifetime risk for BD. Scientists hope that identifying the specific genes involved in risk for bipolar disorder will lead to new ways to treat the disease. ISB researchers identified contributions of rare variants to BD by sequencing the genomes of…

Into the genetic weeds of hair growth

3 Bullets: ISB researchers used a data-driven mathematical model to identify specific genes associated with hair regeneration Novel methodology paves way for continued research into the molecular basis of this complex cycle as well as other regenerative organs like skin and liver Findings may lead to more precise targets for therapies and genetic markers of hair wellness By Varsha Dhankani Scientists at ISB have identified genes associated with the growth-and-death…

Pushing the Molecular Switches of Tuberculosis Into Overdrive to Map Interactions

3 Bullets: Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infects more than 1.5 billion people worldwide partly due to its ability to sense and adapt to the broad range of hostile environments that exist within hosts. To study how MTB controls its responses at a molecular level, ISB researchers and their collaborators at Seattle Biomed perturbed almost all MTB transcription factor regulators and identified the affected genes. This comprehensive map of molecular switches in…

The Institute for Systems Biology has a mission to make data available to the world. In a paper recently published in the journal Current Protocols in Bioinformatics, proteomics researchers in the lab of Dr. Robert Moritz provide a step-by-step tutorial demonstrating how to take advantage of web-based applications that let researchers share and use proteomics data.

Let Us Tell You Everything We Know About Proteomics – Everything

3 Bullets: Proteomics experiments generate huge amounts of raw data, most of which cannot be easily shared or described in a publication. ISB researchers curate publicly accessible databases that allow researchers to share their data with the world and to use data others have collected. All data are analyzed in a consistent manner and results are presented via searchable, user-friendly web applications. By Dr. Kristian Swearingen Institute for Systems Biology…

Analyzing Family Genomics Reveals New Culprit in Rare Disease

3 Bullets: Adams-Oliver syndrome (AOS) is a rare congenital disease characterized by scalp lesions and limb defects. Additional vascular abnormalities and heart defects can lead to early death in some patients. By analyzing twelve families affected with the disease, we identified causal mutations in a new disease gene, NOTCH1, in five families. NOTCH1 is likely to be the major cause of AOS. NOTCH1 codes for a transcription factor that governs…

Cover image for ISB's 2013 Annual Report.

ISB’s 2013 Annual Report is Now Available

Institute for Systems Biology has a dizzying breadth of research projects. But when we talk about what we do, it’s how we do it that matters most. The systems approach that we pioneered and exemplify continues to distinguish our ability to tackle the most complex biological and environmental challenges today. Because of how we apply our hallmark collaborative, cross-disciplinary and integrative approach, our collective success is greater than the sum…