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Enhanced understanding of genetic basis of disease to hasten advent of
personalized medicine
Phoenix, AZ March 9, 2009 Applied Biosystems, a division of Life
Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE), and the Translational Genomics
Research Institute, today announced a strategic alliance designed to accelerate
research into complex diseases and medical conditions. As part of this
alliance, a team of scientists from TGen and Applied Biosystems will employ the
SOLiD 3 System, Applied Biosystems' next-generation genomic analysis platform,
to sequence DNA from thousands of patients with a variety of diseases. The goal
of this research is to translate scientific discoveries at the genetic level
into knowledge about the underlying causes of disease that may ultimately be
used to create cutting-edge tools for use in clinical diagnosis.
The alliance enables TGen researchers to apply best-of-breed sequencing
technology across a broad spectrum of research efforts that focus on developing
a more personalized approach to medicine. This approach, which is known as
personalized medicine, represents a potential clinical shift from treatment of
disease based on symptoms, to therapy that is specific to an individual's
unique genetic make up. Among the goals of this project is to advance the
promise of personalized medicine by reducing the cost of genome sequencing to
make it a routine diagnostic tool in medical care.
"This strategic alliance will accelerate genomic discoveries by integrating
relevant scientific findings into the clinical setting," said Mark Stevenson,
President and Chief Operating Officer of Life Technologies. "The SOLiD System
will help this team of scientists and other researchers and clinicians
interpret how genetic variation can improve the ability to create more
effective therapeutic solutions, bringing personalized medicine one step closer
to mainstream application."
The scientists involved in this alliance will utilize a total of five SOLiD 3
Systems to build a sequencing pipeline in connection with patient-centric,
medically-directed resequencing on a cross section of patient samples. The
results are expected to positively impact individuals with cancer, autoimmune
and neurological disorders. The alliance will also involve the co-development
of a bioinformatics analysis and visualization pipeline for the SOLiD platform.
This will result in software tools designed to ease the analytical challenges
associated with analyzing the vast amounts of data generated by human disease
and cancer genomics applications of next generation sequencing.
Dr. Jeffrey Trent, President and Scientific Director of TGen, and other
renowned principal investigators will partner with Applied Biosystems
scientists to perform six different projects focused on comprehensive
characterization of genetic and molecular changes occurring within clinical
cohorts for each disease. The scientists at TGen chose the SOLiD technology for
this project, due to its inherent scalability, unparalleled throughput and
unmatched data accuracy. These attributes make the SOLiD System uniquely suited
for translational research of complex diseases by enabling the detection of
single nucleotide polymorphisms and other structural variation across the
genome in large numbers of samples.
"Consistent with TGen's mission of developing the next generation of
diagnostics and therapeutics, the alliance with Applied Biosystems forges ties
with a key industry partner whose technologies align seamlessly with our
research objectives and should produce accelerated progress in our efforts to
better understand the genetic underpinnings of many diseases, with a particular
emphasis on cancer," said Dr. Trent.
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.
TGen is a growing leader in integrating medically directed technologies and
applications into clinical practice, the results of which provide real
solutions for patients. Through its recent alliance with the Van Andel Research
Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan, TGen and VARI now have a national outreach
to patient populations across multiple diseases. That alliance combines the
groundbreaking basic research expertise of VARI with the cutting-edge
translational genomics and analysis capabilities of TGen.
For more information, please visit: www.appliedbiosystems.com,
www.invitrogen.com and www.tgen.org
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 had sales of more than $3 billion in 2008, employs approximately
9,500 people, has a presence in more than 100 countries, and possesses a
rapidly growing intellectual property estate of approximately 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
About TGen
The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) is a non-profit
organization dedicated to conducting groundbreaking research with life changing
results. Research at TGen is focused on helping patients with diseases such as
cancer, neurological disorders and diabetes. TGen is on the cutting edge of
translational research where investigators are able to unravel the genetic
components of common and complex diseases. Working with collaborators in the
scientific and medical communities, TGen believes it can make a substantial
contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of the translational process.
For more information, visit: www.tgen.org
