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| PamGene Licenses its Microarray Platform to the University of Nottingham | | | Den Bosch, 12th July 2004 - PamGene International BV has today announced the licensing of its 3-Dimensional, Flow-Through Microarray Platform to Nottingham University, England. This service licence, which includes the sale of a PamGene 4-array PamStation® will enable the University to develop Multiplex Amplifiable Probe Hybridization (MAPH) as a service on the PamGene platform.
MAPH, originally developed by Dr John Armour of Nottingham University, can quickly and accurately determine copy number changes in genomic DNA. Such changes are known to play a role in the generation of a number of diseases including breast cancer, colon cancer and muscular dystrophy. The University’s Institute of Genetics, where the PamStation® is to be based, will now have the ability to automate their MAPH tests in a microarray format, using the 30-minute hybridisation procedure offered by PamGene’s 3-dimensional flow-through microarray technology.
”This will be a very useful system whereby we can exploit the MAPH technology further for detecting deletions and duplications in genomic DNA. It will also allow the potential to screen all copy number changes in the human genome at a resolution of 1-10Mb in a rapid manner”, explained Dr Armour.
Although the PamGene system will initially be used for internal MAPH research, a service will be offered in the near future through a new company to be spun out of The University’s Institute of Genetics. The University also intends to use the instrument, specifically designed for PamChip® Arrays, as a centralised service system for focused microarray analysis.
About Institute of Genetics, University of Nottingham
The Institute of Genetics was established in 1997 and currently houses 33 research groups, with a total complement of some 200 staff and postgraduate students. The Institute is one of Nottingham University's acknowledged strengths in research, specialising in key areas of biological research, from genes to genomes, from molecules to cells, from model organisms to humans. Most of the research groups are located within the Queen's Medical Centre, which provides a number of core scientific support services for the Institute and facilitates links to clinical research.
The research is supported by programme and project grants from the UK Research Councils (MRC, BBSRC, NERC) and Charities (Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation), from the EU, and from the US National Institutes of Health.
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