The company plans to combine the probes with its proprietary signal amplification technologies, which will enhance their effectiveness by allowing visualization at levels not achievable by other methods.
Single copy DNA probes offer a specificity in hybridizing genetic chromosomes not heretofore available for identifying elusive strains of inherited genetic diseases and cancers, allowing, among other things, for more precise clinical treatment. Current commercially produced DNA probes, while important and useful, are limited to primarily examining large sections of DNA in identifying relatively common genetic disorders.
Enzo will produce the single copy DNA probes in its manufacturing facility here and market them to laboratories worldwide. The company acquired a license to the technology from the Children's Mercy Hospital & Clinics in Kansas City, Missouri, in addition to rights for any patents relating to this technology issued in the future.
Enzo also acquired rights to approximately 50 DNA probes developed at the university, which in peer review publications have been listed as being able to identify a number of genetic maladies.