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SigSCi Joins UT on DARPA B-SURE Program - Risk Evaluation: Biomanufacturing in Space

Signature Science Membership on University of Texas’ DARPA B-SURE Program Team Announced

March 17, 2023 • An article posted to Homeland Preparedness News announced the University-led teams participating in the DARPA B-SURE Program. Signature Science is proud to join the University of Washington and the University of Wisconsin-Madison on The University of Texas team. The team is focused on program track 3: “Variable Radiation,” and will work to discover the effects of variable radiation on microbial molecule production. From the article: “The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced three university teams to participate in its Biomanufacturing: Survival, Utility and Reliability beyond Earth (B-SURE) program this week, setting each up to investigate … MORE

image of buildings in Houston's downtown. Text: Expediting Justince in Houston, Tx

Houston Forensic Science Center Selects Austin-Based Signature Science for Forensic DNA Casework Service

Award continues federally funded sexual assault kit backlog reduction effort AUSTIN, TEXAS – March 7, 2023 – Signature Science, LLC was awarded an 18-month, $1,108,934 contract from the Houston Forensic Science Center (HFSC) to perform forensic screening and DNA analysis of … MORE

Signature Science proud to Participate in SWRI Anniversary. Image of blurred traffic in front of SwRI front gate

Celebrating with SwRI – Annual Meeting Makes News

February 28, 2023  • Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), together with Advisory Trustees, Board of Directors and special guests, held its 75th Annual Meeting at SwRI’s headquarters in San Antonio. The Institute’s press release covering the event was picked up by … MORE

SeqScreen-Nano: a computational platform for rapid, in-field characterization of previously unseen pathogens: Preprint Available

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic forever underscored the need for biosurveillance platforms capable of rapid detection of previously unseen pathogens. Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) couples long-read sequencing with in-field capability, opening the door to real-time, in-field biosurveillance. Though a promising technology, streaming … MORE

Multicolored DNA output forms face

Founders Announce Establishment of the National Technology Validation and Implementation Collaborative (NTVIC) and Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Technology Validation Group (FIGG-TVG) in “FSI: Synergy” – Announce SigSci Membership

In a paper published in Forensic Science International: Synergy, founders of the National Technology Validation and Implementation Collaborative (NTVIC) announced the group’s formation, in addition to the formation of its first Technology Validation Working Group, the Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy Technology Validation Group (FIGG-TVG). Signature Science’s Center for Advanced Genomics is proud to be a member of this group, “focused on the implementation of Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG), Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG), and Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) in public law enforcement agencies and forensic science laboratories.” The NTVIC mission: “The mission of the National Technology Validation and Implementation Collaborative (NTVIC) is … MORE

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HORIZON Newsletter – January 2023

Join the CAG in celebrating with AAFS in Orlando (Feb 13-18)! Stop by our Booth 401 – our CAG stainless steel pint glass giveaway will help you raise a toast to 75 years of The American Academy of Forensic Sciences! Fear of … MORE

internal validation of the forenseq kintelligence kit for application to forensic genetic genealogy

Published in “Forensic Genomics”: Internal Validation of the ForenSeq® Kintelligence Kit for Application to Forensic Genetic Genealogy

Abstract Forensic Genetic Genealogy (FGG) requires high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) profiles to infer distant relationships. The ForenSeq Kintelligence kit is a recently developed method targeting 10,230 SNPs that were selected to be compatible with genetic genealogy databases, whereas avoiding medically … MORE

bronchial pathways and covid molecule illustration

Analysis of Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid Metatranscriptomes Among Patients with COVID-19 Disease

Abstract To better understand the potential relationship between COVID-19 disease and hologenome microbial community dynamics and functional profiles, we conducted a multivariate taxonomic and functional microbiome comparison of publicly available human bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) metatranscriptome samples amongst COVID-19 (n = 32), community … MORE

k2v: A Containerized Workflow for Creating VCF Files from Kintelligence Targeted Sequencing Data

Abstract The ForenSeq Kintelligence kit developed by Verogen is a targeted Illumina sequencing assay that genotypes 10,230 single nucleotide polymorphisms designed for forensic genetic genealogy, forensic DNA phenotyping, and ancestry inference. We developed k2v, a containerized workflow for creating standard specification-compliant … MORE

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Signature Science Selected to Validate RNA Virus Detection Workflow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Laboratory Response Network

Award continues CDC-funded development of standardized protocols for rapid, accurate detection of RNA viruses using the Oxford Nanopore MinION AUSTIN, TEXAS – Nov. 22, 2022– The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has selected Signature Science, LLC to validate an … MORE

Forecasting Influenza-Like Illness (ILI) during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract Near-term probabilistic forecasts for infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza play an important role in public health communication and policymaking. From 2013-2019, the FluSight challenge run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invited researchers to develop and … MORE

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