Science & Technology | News

USC Expands Genomic Research Options

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 09/13/11

The University of Southern California has expanded its use of software from NextBio, which develops life sciences research tools. The institution has licensed NextBio Enterprise to enable its faculty and students to store and share private genomic data internally while also tapping into public research.

NextBio maintains a sizeable collection of continuously curated genomic data and enhanced data and literature search functions. The Enterprise edition has additional tools and support for cross-disciplinary collaboration and translational research. For example, users will be able to access the product's APIs to create their own research utilities, import their own data, and interpret it in the context of a semantically integrated library.

A key feature is the ability for researchers to make correlations between their own results and existing genomic data. "This functionality is essential to an institution like USC that emphasizes cross-disciplinary collaboration and the translation of discoveries into meaningful practice," said the company's vice president of engineering, Satnam Alag.