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.
LabCorp, Duke Form JV to Develop, Market PGx Biomarkers
Duke University Medical Center LabCorp have created a joint venture to commercialize new biomarkers, the groups said today.
News of the JV comes two weeks after Duke said it would join an alliance with LabCorp and CancerGuide Diagnostics to develop cancer diagnostics.
The aim of the new JV is to "speed the translation of newly discovered biomarkers into widely available clinical tools that can measure individual therapeutic responses, predict disease progression, and evaluate any number of biologic or disease-causing processes."
The JV, called, The Biomarker Factory, also seeks to "assist physicians in understanding how to use newly developed biomarkers to improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs.”
The venture will rely on Duke’s chops in biomarker discovery and validation, including "hundreds of thousands" of biological samples it owns, along with elements of the school's MURDOCK epidemiology study. LabCorp will bring to the party its ability to develop and commercialize diagnostics and other lab tools, as well as the biorepository, currently under development, aimed at discovering and validating biomarkers in human disease.
“The Biomarker Factory is at the intersection of translational medicine and personalized medicine,” Victor Dzau, Chancellor for Health Affairs at Duke and CEO of Duke University Health System, said in a statement.
To LabCorp, the venture will enable biomarkers and their end products to move "from the research bench to the physician office,” according to CEO David King.
The partners did not say on which disease areas they would initially focus, but the statement singled out Duke research showing how "biomarkers can give critical information about the likelihood that a patient will benefit from treatment for hepatitis C."
Andrew Conrad, executive vice president and chief scientific officer at LabCorp, said “[a] particularly exciting aspect" of the alliance will be its goal of "developing deep knowledge about appropriate use of biomarkers in clinical practice and how to provide this information so that patients and doctors can make better decisions.”
Financial terms were not disclosed, though the statement said the JV will "leverage existing assets in both founding organizations."