A cross-industry group addressing data-management problems in biotechnology, the BioIT Alliance, is embarking on a second pilot project, and Seattle bioinformatics company Geospiza is joining the effort.

Microsoft, which launched the alliance with The Scripps Research Institute and several biotech and software companies in April, said today a second proof-of-concept project is under way.

The Biomarkers Project aims to "simplify the process for identifying and validating genomic biomarkers -- the characteristics that indicate the presence of a disease or the likely efficacy of a drug." More details are in this news release.

Here's our coverage of the alliance, and Microsoft's broader healthcare efforts, from April.

Another Seattle bioinformatics company, VizX Labs, is also a member of the Alliance.