DNAprint Genomics (DNAG)

[mingwan0]

Answers to a number of questions raised earlier.

Doug, from what we can see publicly it seems that the majority of interest in AIMs and mald screening is in academia. Leaving aside the National Cancer Institute, from the various articles where AIMs are explicitly mentioned we know that researchers at the following institutions are or have been involved in AIMs related research:

- Penn State University
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Wake Forest University
- University of Maryland
- University of Toronto
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Howard University
- University of Michigan
- University of Southern California
- Pennington Center for Biomedical Research
- University of Cincinnati
- Lerner Research Institute
- The University at Albany, SUNY
- Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research
- Multidisciplinary Institute of Cell Biology, La Plata, Argentina
- Universidad Central del Ecuador
- Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru
- Instituto Boliviano de Biologia de Altura, La Paz, Bolivia

Not to mention the specific research at University of Miami and New York University. I also think that AIMs related research is underway elsewhere. BTW, the articles about the latest Shriver paper tell us that "NIH supported the study." We also know that institutions like John Hopkins are familiar with AIMs. We do not know yet if there are any commercial partners for AIMs/ADMIXMAP.

In response to dgsny’s question about Zengen:

WOODLAND HILLS, CALIF (October 10, 2002) — Zengen, Inc. announced today a strategic alliance with DragonVenture, Inc., a Silicon Valley based, cross-Pacific venture capital and consulting firm. DragonVenture will provide Zengen with services related to the Company’s international expansion into the Greater Chinese pharmaceutical and over-the-counter markets.

"This alliance further supports our overall corporate strategy to leverage our proprietary peptide technologies in the global healthcare arena," said R. Steven Davidson, Ph.D., president and CEO of Zengen. "Given their expertise and proven track record in the Asian marketplace, we believe that working with a premier organization like DragonVenture will help us successfully penetrate the world’s largest healthcare market and establish Zengen as a global biopharmaceutical player."

Under the terms of their agreement, DragonVenture will facilitate strategic alliances between Zengen and well-established healthcare businesses in Greater China. Zengen’s move builds on the Company’s recent research and development collaborations with companies including Abiogen Pharma S.p.A. in Italy and Lee’s Pharmaceutical Holdings, Ltd. headquartered in Hong Kong.

The Chairman and Co-Founder of DragonVenture is K. Bobby Chao, who happens to be a Director of Zengen. I think that one way in which Zengen/Lees might possibly figure in DNAP’s future is as a marketing and distribution mechanism for Greater China.

angelfund, the presentation on July 31 is "New tests for genomics-based physical profiling : case study" rather than presenting the published paper. My guess is that Tony will provide background on the science behind this and then go over the Louisiana case. He might provide details about some of the additional tests, i.e. eye and hair color. It would be very nice if he announced progress on tests for e.g. height, weight and facial characteristics. Of course, we do not know what other announcements, if any, before or at this meeting might have a bearing on his presentation...

The abstract of the paper in the Journal of Scientific Sciences is as follows:

http://www.astm.org/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/JOURNALS/FORENSIC/PAGES/4196.htm?L+mystore+zixu0408+1059285....

Abstract: Ancestral inference from DNA could serve as an important adjunct for both standard and future human identity testing procedures. However, current STR methods for the inference of ancestral affiliation have inherent statistical and technical limitations. In an effort to identify bi-allelic markers that can be used to infer ancestral affiliation from DNA, we screened 211 SNPs in the human pigmentation and xenobiotic metabolism genes. Allele frequencies of 56 SNPs (most from pigmentation genes) were dramatically different between groups of unrelated individuals of Asian, African, and European descent, and both observed and simulated log likelihood ratios revealed that the markers were of exceptional value for ancestral inference. Log likelihood ratios of the multilocus estimates of biological ancestry (EAE/EBA) ranged from 7 to 10, which are on par with the best of the STR batteries yet described. A linear classification method was developed for incorporating these SNPs into a classifier model that was 99, 98, and 100% accurate for identifying individuals of European, African, and Asian descent, respectively. The methods and markers we describe are therefore an important first step for the development of a practical multiplex test for the inference of ancestry in a forensics setting.