Helicos Launches Open Access Web Site with Microbial Genome Data
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Helicos BioSciences Corporation announces the launch of the HeliSphere™ Technology Center, an open access Web site for sharing Helicos data sets and bioinformatics software tools.
Launched during the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, the open source site showcases single molecule sequence reads from whole genome resequencing and digital gene expression runs using the Helicos™ Genetic Analysis System.
The first sample datasets released include whole genome sequences of the microbes Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Rhodobacter sphaeroides, sequenced with consensus accuracies greater than 99.995%. Each sample dataset, containing between six and 12 million aligned reads, was generated from one channel of a 50-channel run on the HeliScope™ Single Molecule Sequencer.
“These data constitute the first demonstration of whole genome sequencing at the single molecule level, and highlight the unique benefits of scalability, even coverage and high accuracy afforded by Helicos True Single Molecule Sequencing (tSMS)™ technology,” explained Helicos Chief Executive Officer Steve Lombardi.
Data from a number of exciting sequencing projects currently underway will be posted on the HeliSphere™ Technology Center Web site on a regular basis.
In addition to Helicos data sets, the new Web site is also a gateway to Helicos’ open source project, which includes downloadable source code and software documentation and is hosted on the Web site http://sourceforge.net/.
“The open access site benefits customers and software developers, as well as the wider scientific community by making not only datasets, but source code and support tools easily accessible,” added Lombardi.
The site supports “tarball” downloads of the source code and uses well known shared access tools, such as Wiki docs and Mailman mailing lists. The Helicos™ Technology Center will also feature an open bug tracking system and will entertain patch submissions from developers.
Source code can be licensed through the widely used free software license GPL (general public license) for general use and through a commercial license for corporate partners. Passwords to access this open source Web site are available to qualified scientists upon request.
