HEIDELBERG, March 3, 2009 – As febit announced today, the company will further advance its HybSelect technology for use in READNA projects. HybSelect enables automated capture of specific DNA regions for high-throughput sequencing and will soon be launched in several markets.
Joining a group of 16 European partners from industry and academics, febit will support the READNA consortium (REvolutionary Approaches and Devices for Nucleic Acid analysis). In projects supported by the EU with 12 million Euros of funding, the consortium pursues the development and evaluation of trail-blazing new technologies for DNA sequencing. During recent years, latest-generation sequencers set the stage for new opportunities in genetic research: Analyses of complete human genomes have become feasible at realistic expenses. However, despite a steady decline in costs, whole genome sequence analysis is still too time-consuming and expensive for use in meaningful comparative studies, e.g. of patients versus healthy volunteers. In addition, processing the enormous amounts of data resulting from such an analysis remains a challenge. Therefore, developing faster, more cost-efficient and targeted approaches in comparative genomics are important objectives of the READNA consortium.
febit CSO Peer Stähler is convinced that HybSelect will make an important contribution to these efforts: “Using our novel technology, we can quasi-automatically capture specific genes from samples, thus enabling highly efficient operation of next-generation sequencers by directing the sequencing process to the regions of interest to the researcher. Multiple samples may be sequenced in parallel for immediate analysis – saving time, cost and a great deal of effort in data analysis.“
For the research group of Dr. Ivo Gut, project coordinator and Associate Director of the Centre National de Génotypage (CNG) in Paris (France), febit will adapt its HybSelect technology for selected applications in next generation sequencing. “We are very happy that we managed to get Europe´s most innovative researchers on board of the READNA project,“ Dr. Gut explains. “The project will help to advance biomedical science and open up new pathways in health care. The extraordinary quality of research in this consortium illustrates the importance and caliber of life sciences in Europe.“ For more information on READNA, please visit http://www.cng.fr/READNA/
For more information on febit, please visit www.febit.com
About febit
febit develops, produces and markets flexible automated solutions for enabling biochip applications in Life Sciences. The product portfolio includes various instruments, assay protocols and bioanalytical services, complemented by bioinformatics software and consulting.
For its main applications HybSelect – febit’s innovative DNA capture method for Next-Generation-Sequencing – and protein-coding or non-coding transcriptomic profiling, the highly elaborated microfluidics of the patented Geniom Biochip offers the highest degree of automation, flexibility and efficiency throughout the field.
