Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has awarded HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology over $2 million through the Alabama Research and Development Advancement Fund to support three initiatives using biotechnology to strengthen Alabama’s agriculture and forestry sectors. Auburn University and the University of Alabama also received funding in this round. ADECA made the full list of awards available on Monday. “Researchers […]

HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology has earned the Innovate Alabama Network designation and was awarded funding for two key initiatives to strengthen entrepreneurs across the state. The designation connects HudsonAlpha to a network of other designated communities, nonprofits, and higher education institutions across the state and funding to further shape and expand Alabama’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The […]

Today, genomic testing is so common it can be initiated from the comfort of your own home. It’s easy to forget that the human genome sequence was first determined less than two decades ago. The monumental task of creating the first human reference genome came from a 13-year international labor of love. “Thinking about the […]

The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology has been awarded a grant for $20,000 from the ALS Association to continue a collaborative clinical research project, Impacting ALS, with Huntsville’s Crestwood Medical Center. The goal of Impacting ALS is to identify genetic variants or changes that contribute to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The progressive neurodegenerative disease affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. […]

Researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have set out to make a better cotton through a series of research collaborations, grants and projects. These grants include sequencing “elite” cotton strains, sending cotton to space and conversations between students and astronauts.Genetics could transform the very ways we think of cotton and its uses. Scientists ask us […]

People around the world consumed nearly 7.7 million tons of chocolate in the last year, but the cacao crop that supports the production of these sweets is under significant environmental threat. Millions of cacao farmers in West Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America feel the pressures of ever-increasing consumption, a changing climate and devastating fungal […]

A grant from the BrightFocus Foundation will bring $200,000 to the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology with the goal of better understanding one of the key genes implicated in causing Alzheimer’s disease. Nick Cochran, Ph.D., was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship Award from the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program to study the MAPT gene with the ultimate hope of learning how the gene is […]

Scientists at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, along with collaborators at the University of Georgia and USDA Stoneville, have created a reference genome for Arachis hypogaea, the species of peanut that has become an important food crop over the past 9,400 years. By generating a reference genome and revealing the genetic mechanisms of the modern […]

The HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology announced that the HudsonAlpha Genomic Services Lab (GSL) has signed an agreement with Discovery Life Sciences to form a new division of that company, HudsonAlpha Discovery. The move will build on the success of the Institute in developing a top-of-the-line sequencing lab by adding the global reach of Discovery Life Sciences and its sales force. This […]

Scientists at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have connected developmental delay and intellectual disability (DD/ID) to variations in the BRSK2 gene with the help of a social media platform used by geneticists all over the world. Researchers in Greg Cooper’s lab recently published a paper in the American Journal of Human Genetics associating genetic variation in a gene called BRSK2 with neurodevelopmental disorders. They put […]

As many as 20,000 Americans live with ALS, and 15 new cases are diagnosed in this country every day. A new HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology project is just underway in collaboration with Crestwood ALS Care Clinic, a National ALS Association Treatment Center of Excellence in Huntsville. In this project, HudsonAlpha scientists will conduct genomic sequencing and analysis of ALS patients […]

Scientists at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have helped identify a genetic change that is causing Alzheimer’s disease, expanding what we know about how the disease can be inherited and giving participants in the study an opportunity to join prevention trials. Researchers looked at 93 members of a family in Colombia that had a history […]

Researchers at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville have pinpointed a previously unknown cause of a serious seizure disorder most common in babies, potentially opening the door to new diagnostic and treatment options for infants who show signs of epilepsy. They found the genetic cause hidden in the SCN1A gene, one of the most heavily studied […]