Affymetrix Inc. (AFFX)

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Affymetrix and The Jackson Laboratory Launch First Genotyping Tool for Studying Mouse Strain Diversity
Date : 03/23/2010 @ 9:00AM
Source : Business Wire
Stock : Affymetrix, Inc. (AFFX)
Quote : 7.22 0.0 (0.00%) @ 7:22AM


Affymetrix and The Jackson Laboratory Launch First Genotyping Tool for Studying Mouse Strain Diversity
Affymetrix, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) and The Jackson Laboratory today announced the full commercial launch of the Affymetrix® Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array. This is the first high-density genotyping array that enables researchers to study the complexity of the mouse genome and the diversity among mouse strains.

Because mice and humans share genomes of similar size, content, and organization, mice studies are key elements in the quest to cure human health issues.

The array was developed in the laboratories of Fernando Pardo-Manuel de Villena, PhD, of the University of North Carolina, and Gary Churchill, PhD, of the Center for Genome Dynamics at The Jackson Laboratory. It is manufactured and sold by Affymetrix and is also available as part of a service from The Jackson Laboratory, a world leader in the study of mouse genetics for more than 80 years.

Reporting in the journal Nature Methods1, researchers showed that the Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array is the first that can simultaneously assay 623,124 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), a 100-fold increase over other currently available arrays, and more than 900,000 invariant genomic regions in the mouse genome. Researchers can use it to genotype virtually any mouse, identify genetic changes involved in disease phenotypes, and genetically monitor important laboratory mouse strains.

“The natural variation between inbred mouse strains provides us with an essential tool to study complex diseases involving the interaction of multiple genes. This is a focal point of biomedical research and drug efficacy testing,” said Jackson Lab Professor Gary Churchill. “Using Affymetrix technology, we have created a way for scientists around the world to analyze these variations with much greater specificity and data reproducibility.”

Through JAX® Services, The Jackson Laboratory offers array hybridization and computational analysis services to researchers worldwide. The JAX® Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array Service is being provided by the same microarray and computational analysis group that participated in the design, validation, and analysis of the Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array. The Jackson Laboratory has run more than 1,000 samples on this array and has developed tools that enable extremely accurate genotype calling.

“Two leading mouse geneticists have identified the most relevant and comprehensive collection of SNPs for studying mouse diversity,” said Kevin King, president and CEO of Affymetrix. “Affymetrix was able to screen these to find the highest performing SNPs, and we believe that together we have produced the best tool for meeting researchers’ needs in this field.”

For more information about the Affymetrix Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array, please visit: www.affymetrix.com/products_services/arrays/specific/mouse_diversity.affx

For more information on JAX® Mouse Diversity Genotyping Array Service, please visit: http://jaxservices.jax.org/mdarray.html

1 Yang, et al. A customized and versatile high-density genotyping array for the mouse. Nature Methods (published online August 9, 2009, doi: 10.1038/nmeth.1359).

About The Jackson Laboratory

The Jackson Laboratory (www.jax.org) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with more than 1,300 employees in Bar Harbor, Maine, and Sacramento, Calif. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community. Its 38 research groups investigate the genetic basis of cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, glaucoma, diabetes and many other human diseases and disorders, as well as normal development, reproduction and aging. The Laboratory is also the world's source for more than 5,000 strains of genetically defined mice, is home of the mouse genome database and is an international hub for scientific courses, conferences, training and education.

The Jackson Laboratory works with over 16,000 laboratories worldwide, providing them with more than 5,000 different strains of mice for the study of diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, immune system diseases, ALS, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, hearing loss, blindness and Down syndrome. Research conducted at the Laboratory includes developing mouse models to understand the human variants seen in drug response, such as the genetic basis for type one diabetes.

About Affymetrix

Affymetrix technology is used by the world’s top pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biotechnology companies, as well as leading academic, government, and nonprofit research institutes. More than 1,800 systems have been shipped around the world and more than 20,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published using the technology.

Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and has manufacturing facilities in Cleveland, Ohio, and Singapore. The company has about 1,100 employees worldwide and maintains sales and distribution operations across Europe and Asia. For more information about Affymetrix, please visit the company’s website at www.affymetrix.com.

Forward-looking statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act as amended, including statements regarding Affymetrix’ “expectations,” “beliefs,” “hopes,” “intentions,” “strategies” or the like. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially for Affymetrix from those projected. These and other risk factors are discussed in Affymetrix’ Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008, and other SEC reports for subsequent quarterly periods.

Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo, and GeneChip® are registered trademarks owned or used by Affymetrix, Inc.