NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Researchers at the University of Queensland will add nine new sequencing systems from Applied Biosystems to its labs in order to support its efforts in the International Cancer Genome Consortium.
The university's Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) will acquire the nine ABI SOLiD Systems, bringing its total owned to 11, which it will use in its studies focused on pancreatic and ovarian cancer in Australia.
The company will provide service and support for the systems, as well as bioinformatic analytical support for understanding and identifying genetic variations in the tumors. IMB will use the systems to sequence and map genetic changes that occur in these cancers, which can lead to uncontrolled growth.
Sean Grimmond, who is IMB's leader of the genomics and computational group, said in a statement that the system will "enable us to conduct complete genomic surveys of cancerous tumors and better understand the factors, including structural variants and single nucleotide polymorphisms, which are promoting uncontrolled growth within the tumor.
"By discovering the genes that are the key suspects in driving a cancer, we can begin to develop targeted drug therapies," he added.
Financial terms of the agreement were not released.