NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Manchester, UK-based Tepnel Life Sciences today said that the Illinois Department of Public Health has selected its Elucigene CF-US test for two-stage testing of cystic fibrosis under a newly mandated screening program for all newborns in the state.
Tepnel’s test is designed for use on high-throughput capillary sequencers and detects 44 mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator gene and their wild-type counterparts.
The Illinois DPH began validating the test early in 2008, Tepnel said. The first stage of the program calls for newborns to be tested for elevated levels of immunoreactive trypsin using a blood sample from the infant’s heel. If the infant’s IRT level is in the top 4 percent of the daily assay run, then their sample is tested for CF mutations using Tepnel’s test.