NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Two Canadian non-profit organizations in Québec announced this week that they have created a permanent database of genomic information of about 22,000 blood donors in order to help make transfusions safe for patients in the province.
The partners, Héma-Québec and Génome Québec, have created a database that will help locate compatible blood more easily for patients who are in need of transfusions of specific blood profiles.
Genome Québec provided the genotyping to develop the platform, and the project included the efforts of the Montreal Heart Institute Pharmacogenomics Center.
“Working with Génome Québec enabled us develop this technology much more quickly by acceding to extensive expertise in high throughput automated genotyping and to the necessary equipment,” said Héma-Québec President and CEO Francine Décary.