RNAi News has written a review of the Sirocco Bioinformatics site.

There is a guide added to the Bioinformatics Tools sub-site helping newbies take first steps in using the tools and provided by the site. Click here to get the guide.

The SIROCCO website has recieved a fresh look for a fresh year. Improvements include the new, simpler layout and the addition of the Bioinformatics data and tools subsite. There are also changes made to the News and Publication pages amongst other things. Enjoy!

SIROCCO was represented at the RNAi Europe meeting in Barcelona 19th-21st September 2007.
Partner Eric Miska gave a talk on 19th September entitled microRNAs in Animal Development and Human Cancer.
Aileen Hogan presented a poster highlighting the SIROCCO competitive call. Xavier Estivill and his lab members Mónica Báñez, Eulalia Marti, Josep Mercader, Elena Minones-Moyano, Margarita Muiños and Ester Saus presented their experiments showing miRNA expression changes in neurodegenerative processes and also in the hypothalamus of an anorexia mouse model. Exiqon presented results of microRNA expression profiling using LNA technology.

David Baulcombe, SIROCCO Coordinator, is being honoured with the 2008 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for his discovery of how tiny RNA molecules govern gene activity through RNA silencing. David established that small RNAs silence genes in plants, thus catalyzing discoveries of many such RNAs in a wide range of living things. His findings led to the identification of the biochemical machinery that unifies numerous processes by which small RNAs govern gene activity

First presented in 1946, the Lasker Awards are America’s most distinguished honor for outstanding basic and clinical medical research discoveries and for lifetime contributions to medical science. David Baulcombe and co-recipients Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun will be presented with the awards at a ceremony on Friday, September 26th at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.

http://www.laskerfoundation.org/index.htm

Caroline Dean OBE FRS has been elected a member of the USA’s National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for her excellence in original scientific research. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honours for a scientist or engineer in the USA. Caroline will be inducted into the Academy next April during its 146th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Stephen Cohen has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. Fellows are elected for their contributions to science, both in fundamental research resulting in greater understanding, and also in lead-ing and directing scientific and techno-logical progress in industry and research establishments.

The business research & consulting firm Frost & Sullivan has announced the selection of Exiqon as the recipient of its 2008 Growth Strategy Leadership Award in the molecular diagnostic market. Exiqon was selected for this award for the company’s acquisition of Oncotech, a market leader in the field of in vitro therapy selection testing for cancer. The acquisition of Oncotech allowed the two companies to combine resources to become a leading supplier of molecular diagnostic tests based on proprietary miRNA biomarkers.
“Combining the two companies has allowed Exiqon to master a number of the most significant challenges in building a platform for its future molecular diagnostic business in the US,“ says CEO Lars Kongsbak.
Exiqon has already established itself as one of the market’s leading providers of research products for gene expression analysis based on the LNA™ technology.

Press Release here