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BioArray Briefs: 2009.04.14

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Golden Helix Hires Distributor for India

Golden Helix said this week that it has tapped Spinco Biotech to distribute its genetic-analysis software in India.

Under the exclusive agreement, Spinco will serve as Bozeman, Mont.-based Golden Helix's exclusive distributor, which will include providing sales, marketing, and first-level customer support for its analysis and visualization software and services.

Andy Ferrin, Golden Helix’s vice president of sales and marketing, said that the company struck the agreement with Spinco in response to "a continual increase in the volume of inquiries from leading Indian research organizations."


Ohio Hospital Named Agilent CSP for Assays

The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital has been named a certified service provider for Agilent Technologies' array-based comparative genomic hybridization and gene expression assays.

Agilent said that the hospital had to complete training and pass a "rigorous series of assessments" including demonstrating proficiency in analyzing Agilent 60-mer oligo microarrays, maintaining sample quality control using the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer, and analyzing data using the firm’s GeneSpring bioinformatics platform.

"The investigators working with us have been tremendously happy with the data we produce, which has led to rapidly growing demand for our Agilent gene expression and CGH services," Peter White, director of the biomedical genomics core at the Columbus, Ohio-based hospital, said in a statement. "We're committed to producing publication-quality data sets and so obtaining CSP status was the logical next step for us."


ArrayIt Teams with Parkinson's Institute

ArrayIt has started to collaborate with the Parkinson's Institute to discover biomarkers for Parkinson's disease, the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm said last week.

The duo will conduct research on samples from Parkinson's disease patients using ArrayIt's new H25K microarray technology.

Further terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.


Precision Biomarker Resources Certified to Offer Affy MicroRNA Chips

Precision Biomarker Resources, an Evanston, Ill.-based contract research organization, has been certified to offer microRNA profiling using Affymetrix’s GeneChip miRNA arrays.

PBR provides RNA and microRNA profiling and data analysis services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic researchers who use microarray methods for discovering biomarkers in their research.

PBR said it is the first Affy service provider to be certified to offer miRNA profiling.

The Scan

Positive Framing of Genetic Studies Can Spark Mistrust Among Underrepresented Groups

Researchers in Human Genetics and Genomics Advances report that how researchers describe genomic studies may alienate potential participants.

Small Study of Gene Editing to Treat Sickle Cell Disease

In a Novartis-sponsored study in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that a CRISPR-Cas9-based treatment targeting promoters of genes encoding fetal hemoglobin could reduce disease symptoms.

Gut Microbiome Changes Appear in Infants Before They Develop Eczema, Study Finds

Researchers report in mSystems that infants experienced an enrichment in Clostridium sensu stricto 1 and Finegoldia and a depletion of Bacteroides before developing eczema.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Specificity Enhanced With Stem Cell Editing

A study in Nature suggests epitope editing in donor stem cells prior to bone marrow transplants can stave off toxicity when targeting acute myeloid leukemia with immunotherapy.