NEW YORK, June 12-The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will use a Nanogen molecular biology workstation to develop SNP and short tandem repeat analysis protocols, the company said today.
In this deal, NASA says it will use the Nanogen system at its Ames Research Center to develop SNP and STR assays that can be used to monitor astronaut health. Researchers at the agency's Center for Nanotechnology will also evaluate the Nanogen system for potential applications in developing biosensors.
Nanogen will have commercialization rights to those assays.
NASA's Ames Research Center studies various aspects of aeronautics and space research, including information technology and biology. The center's budget is roughly $700 million a year.
Nanogen is based in San Diego, Calif.