NEW YORK, April 10 - Lynx Therapeutics today said it will use its Massively Parallel Signature Sequencing in a service agreement with Northeastern University to study the regulation of gene-expression in Antarctic icefish.
Lynx will receive payments for the genomic-discovery services it performs on samples provided by Northeastern's Department of Biology and Marine Science Center, Lynx said.
Because they are the only vertebrate taxonomic group that does not produce red blood cells or hemoglobin, Antarctic icefish may provide a unique model system for determining the genetic regulation of blood cell formation--a process conserved from fish to humans.
Northeastern researchers will use the MPSS tool to analyze the icefish kidney, which they said "should provide comprehensive, quantitative" gene-expression profiles. It is hoped that this research may lead to new treatments and diagnostics for anemia, neutropeniea, and leukemia.