Health & Fitness
Health and Fitness
Health and Fitness
Thu, February 5, 2009
Applied Biosystems Awards Genomic Research Grant to St. Jude Children?s Research Hospital
CARLSBAD, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Applied Biosystems, a division of Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE), today announced the recipient of its "What Would You Do With a $10K Genome" grant program. This program was created to inspire new scientific approaches that employ advanced genomic technologies that are now enabling human genomes to be sequenced for as little as $10,000. [ Charles Mullighan ], M.D., Ph.D., of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received the first-prize award at the 10th annual Advances in Genome Biology and Technology meeting in Marco Island, Florida.
Dr. Mullighan, an assistant member in the Department of Pathology at St. Jude, was selected from more than 200 entries based upon his interest in using a next-generation sequencing approach to identify potential new therapeutic opportunities related to acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is a cancer of white blood cells. It is the most common form of childhood cancer, affecting one in 29,000 children annually.
Despite the dramatic increases in cure rates over the last few decades, 15% of children affected by this disease each year will relapse. For those who do relapse, only 30% will survive five years. In an effort to increase cure rates further, Dr. Mullighan and his team will use Applied Biosystems' [ SOLiD™ 3 System ], an advanced genomic analysis platform, to develop a better understanding of the genetic abnormalities contributing to leukemia relapse, and to also identify suitable molecular targets for novel therapies. The research study involves the sequencing of samples from five pediatric patients treated at St. Jude. The patients' samples were taken at three different time points, including normal tissue (germline), leukemia cells obtained at diagnosis, and at relapse.
"To improve the outcome of relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, we must identify all mutations contributing to treatment failure," said Dr. Mullighan. "The comprehensive identification of genetic changes in tumor cells is a major goal of cancer research, and this grant provides a tremendous opportunity to look across the genome and identify all coding mutations in this disease. Ultimately, our aim is to use this genetic information to identify new pathways and targets for therapy in relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia."
As part of winning the first-prize grant, researchers from Applied Biosystems will work collaboratively with Dr. Mullighan to generate 60 gigabases or 750 million tags of sequencing data for this research project. Applied Biosystems will also perform all sample processing, data generation, and primary data analysis using the SOLiD 3 System, which is the only commercially available platform in the life science industry to provide a path to a $10,000 genome. The SOLiD 3 System will enable researchers involved in this project to detect structural variation in the genome such as novel single-base changes, or SNPs, large and small insertion/deletions, translocations and copy number variants.
"Next-generation sequencing is helping to accelerate scientific research by providing advanced genomic solutions that will identify biological targets that will ultimately lead to the development of genetic-based therapeutics," said [ Mark Stevenson ], President and Chief Operating Officer of Life Technologies. "The grant program provides a collaborative opportunity to accelerate research Dr. Mullighan and other scientists at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have already begun to ultimately advance genetic therapeutics for complex disease."
The SOLiD System is widely used around the world in research laboratories, genome centers, core and contract service facilities, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Researchers are utilizing the SOLiD technology for a variety of advanced genomics research, including resequencing for disease studies, transcriptome analysis, de novo sequencing and methylation profiling. The newest release of the platform – the SOLiD 3 System – offers unparalleled throughput at 40 gigabases per sequencing run, the highest data accuracy at 99.94%, due to 2-base encoding algorithms, and integrated application workflows. The SOLiD 3 System will ultimately enable scientists to sequence a human genome for less than $10,000 dollars in 2009, with a roadmap that will increasingly drive capabilities toward the $1,000 genome milestone.
Applied Biosystems is a global leader in providing innovative instrument systems to accelerate academic and clinical research, drug discovery and development, pathogen detection and forensic DNA analysis. The technologies it markets include a robust line of DNA sequencing systems and chemistries to meet the increasing demands of the scientific community for higher throughput, more sophisticated DNA sequencing solutions. Applied Biosystems, together, with Invitrogen – a leading provider of platform independent, essential life science technologies for disease and drug research, bioproduction and diagnostics – is part of Life Technologies Corporation, which markets the life science industry's most comprehensive portfolio of solutions for molecular and cell biology. Applied Biosystems and Invitrogen products are used in nearly every major laboratory in the world.
For more information, please visit: [ www.appliedbiosystems.com ] and [ www.invitrogen.com ].
About Life Technologies
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:LIFE) is a global biotechnology tools company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific exploration, driving to discoveries and developments that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance personalized medicine, regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental research, and 21st century forensics. Life Technologies has historical sales of approximately $3.5 billion, employs 9,500 people, has a presence in more than 100 countries, and possesses a rapidly growing intellectual property estate of over 3,600 patents and exclusive licenses. Life Technologies was created by the combination of Invitrogen Corporation and Applied Biosystems Inc. For more information on how we are making a difference please visit our website: [ www.lifetechnologies.com ].
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Copyright 2009. Life Technologies Corporation. All rights reserved. AB (Design), and Applied Biosystems are registered trademarks and SOLiD is a trademark of Life Technologies or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or certain other countries.
