NEW YORK, Nov. 17 (GenomeWeb News) - EcoArray will develop a fish array to help the US Environmental Protection Agency perform environmental testing, the Alachua, Fla.-based company said yesterday.
Under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with the EPA, EcoArray will collaborate with EPA researchers in Ohioand Minnesotato design a gene chip for the fathead minnow, which the EPA uses to test the quality of freshwater. Chemicals in polluted water cause changes in gene expression in the fish, and the pattern of expression can indicate which chemical sare affecting the fish.
The purpose of the CRADA is to determine the best platform to use to construct a standard microarray for the fish. Once the platform is established, EcoArray plans to release microarrays for several species used in environmental analysis, the company said.