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news.Applied Biosystems, a division of Life Technologies, and the Translational Genomics Research Institute, a non-profit organization, have formed a strategic alliance designed to accelerate research into complex diseases and medical conditions.
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As part of this alliance, a team of scientists from Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Applied Biosystems will employ the SOLiD 3 system, Applied Biosystems’s 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 sequencing technology across a broad spectrum of research efforts that focus on developing a more personalized approach to medicine. 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.
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, the two companies said.
Mark Stevenson, president and COO of Life Technologies, said: “This strategic alliance will accelerate genomic discoveries by integrating relevant scientific findings into the clinical setting. 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.”