Jan. 30 – Southern Cross University (SCU) has added TimeLogic’s Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) hardware to its computational tools platform. This sophisticated technology will help SCU scientists in their efforts to investigate the genetics and genomics underpinning the selection, cultivation and utilization of plants.

TimeLogic’s DeCypher systems greatly increase the speed of sequence comparison by combining custom field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuitry with optimized implementations of BLAST, Smith-Waterman, Hidden Markov Model and gene modeling algorithms. With the inclusion of this hardware from TimeLogic, SCU researchers have significantly enhanced their high-throughput comparative genomics and annotation efforts. According to Michael Murray, Manager of Sales & Marketing for TimeLogic products at Active Motif, “Southern Cross University represents new customer of TimeLogic and we’re very excited to welcome them to our family.”

Ted DeFrank, President of Active Motif added: “Recent advances in next-generation DNA sequencing technology have created great opportunities for our TimeLogic division and, as a result, Active Motif is investing heavily in this portion of our business. In addition to a major hardware revision, TimeLogic has several additional projects ongoing and we are excited about their continuation as we strive to further strengthen our position as the leader in the field of FPGA-accelerated Biocomputing solutions.”

Professor Graham King, Director of SCU’s Special Research Centre Southern Cross Plant Science said: “I see this valuable addition to our bioinformatics infrastructure complementing recent investments in bioinformatics research staff to extend our genomics capability. The TimeLogic Decypher system will help SCU establish itself as a competitive research presence in crop plant genomics. We are already putting the system to work on analysis of genome sequences that deliver to our research base in Crops, Forestry and Horticulture.”

About Southern Cross University

Southern Cross University is a vibrant, contemporary Australian university with campuses in Lismore, Gold Coast and Coffs Harbour. Degree programs are offered across a broad range of disciplines and are designed in consultation with industry. Research is undertaken in areas that are regionally relevant and globally significant, in disciplines as diverse as plant genetics, cetacean research, geoscience, health and wellbeing, and tourism. SCU was recently recognized for the quality of its scientific research in the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) 2012 national report. The top rating of five for ‘well above world standard’ was given in the specific research fields of crop and pasture production (one of only two universities in Australia), geochemistry, zoology, and forestry sciences. Other results included ‘well above world standard’ in the broader research fields of earth sciences and agricultural and veterinary sciences and ‘above world standard’ in the field of biological sciences.

About Southern Cross Plant Science

Southern Cross Plant Science (SCPS), a Special Research Centre of Southern Cross University, carries out internationally competitive research that adds value to the conservation, cultivation and utilization of plants and other natural products. By establishing itself as a regional hub for primary plant production, SCPS can play a key role in determining the manner by which genetic and environmental factors contribute to end-use properties of crops and added-value natural products.

SCPS research efforts are focused on the genetics, genomics, agronomy and phytochemistry underpinning the selection, cultivation and utilization of plants. The manner by which plants interact and adapt to the environment forms a major theme within the Centre’s research programs, with a focus on epigenetic variation also providing insights into variation in natural product composition and quality.

About TimeLogic

TimeLogic, a division of Active Motif, Inc, is the world leader in hardware accelerated bioinformatics search tools which accelerate genome annotation by combining optimized bioinformatics applications with powerful FPGA-based PCIe accelerator cards. This blend of specialized hardware and optimized software provides a perfect combination of performance, accuracy and value. Furthermore, these systems are simple to maintain and scale easily. Utilizing a TimeLogic system reduces pressure on over-used CPU-clusters by off-loading BLAST, Smith- Waterman (SW) and Hidden Markov Model (HMM) tasks to a highly time and energy efficient solution. From the earliest genome sequencing projects in the 1990’s to the largest Metagenomics projects undertaken to date, TimeLogic has provided the enabling technology to make this research possible. Active Motif/TimeLogic operates globally through its corporate headquarters in Carlsbad, California, European headquarters in Rixensart, Belgium and Japanese headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Active Motif/TimeLogic applies a multi-disciplinary approach to create new and modify existing technologies to meet the current and future needs of life science researchers.

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Source: TimeLogic