Connection Between Epigenome, Selective Mutability, Evolution, and Human Disease
Li, Harris et al., PLoS Genetics
Researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine and elsewhere propose a "connection between the epigenome, selective mutability, evolution, and human disease" based on the findings of their study on associations of structural mutability with germline DNA methylation and with non-allelic homologous recombination mediated by low-copy repeats. "Combined evidence from four human sperm methylome maps, human genome evolution, structural polymorphisms in the human population, and previous genomic and disease studies consistently points to a strong association of germline hypomethylation and genomic instability," the Baylor-led team writes.
Abbott Taps Six Labs to Offer Its New Vysis ALK NSCLC MDx
Abbott Molecular has begun shipping its newly cleared Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH probe kit test.
The assay, approved last week to detect rearrangements of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase, or ALK, gene in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer, will be available through the following labs, according to Abbott: Cynogen Laboratory, LabCorp, the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Cleveland Clinic, and at least two more labs. I'll update the post as soon as I confirm their names.
Cleared around one month ahead of schedule, the test is designed to determine which patients with NSCLC will respond to Pfizer's newly approved Xalkori, known generically as crizotinib.
As my colleague Turna Ray wrote yesterday in Pharmacogenomics Reporter, the drug-companion diagnostic alliance between Abbott and Pfizer is the "latest example" of how testing and pharma companies "can use pharmacogenomic strategies to speed up drug development."
The Vysis ALK test, which uses Abbott’s FISH technology to detect rearrangements of the ALK gene on the 2p23 chromosome, is meant to give oncologists "a standardized, clinically validated" method to identify patients "more likely to benefit" from Xalkori, Abbott said.
Got a tip? Click my byline above to send it along or submit it as a comment below. Follow my headlines on Twitter or subscribe to my RSS feed. Learn more about me or become a source via Linkedin, where all conversations are confidential.