Under terms of the collaboration, the laboratory of John Olson, Jr, and Jeffrey Marks, in the Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy at Duke University Medical Center will conduct novel genotyping research projects using the SmartChip real-time PCR system in order to validate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are related to breast cancer.
Additionally, researchers will aim to examine the impact the validated SNPs have on patients’ disease prognosis and response to treatment. While this is the fourth SmartChip research collaboration that WaferGen has entered into with leading US researchers, it is the first to leverage the platform’s unique genotyping capabilities for SNP validation.
WaferGen believes that the research conducted as part of this collaboration may lead to the discovery of the relative importance of specific SNPs associated with breast cancer. In turn, this critical genetic information may provide physicians with new tools for determining appropriate treatments for breast cancer, while also assisting biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in developing novel targeted therapeutics.
Alnoor Shivji, chairman and CEO of WaferGen, said: “We are pleased to add Dr Olson’s group at Duke University Medical Center to our growing list of top-tier collaborators and are very excited to have his team leverage the unique genotyping capabilities of the SmartChip platform in the oncology arena.”