Number of Ion Community Users Triples

Eric Olivares, founder of SEQanswers, the most popular online sequencing community, said: "The Ion Community has embraced the same principles that have driven the growth of SEQanswers: unrestricted access to information, protocols, and inter-user communication. In a rapidly evolving field where hardware, analysis algorithms, and wet-lab methods change monthly, I am excited to see a major research provider embrace openness and acknowledge that their users will drive research on the platform."

The latest Grand Challenges E

The latest Grand Challenges E. coli dataset exhibits a average read length of 241 bp and high quality, reads as long as 318 bp. An Ion 318(TM) chip was used, generating 1.27 Gb of data. All participants must now use the Ion 318 chip, which delivers 100-fold more data than the initial 10 Mb specification of the Ion 314(TM) chip, giving participants room to achieve the new benchmarks. Raw voltage data and a cloud-based computing environment are available by registering for the Life Grand Challenges on the Ion Community. Entries for this round of the Life Grand Challenges close on Mar. 15, 2011

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