A small startup near San Francisco has recently completed a pilot-assessment study of a novel and little-known high-throughput SNP-genotyping platform and has begun shopping around for commercialization partners.

The company, Quantum Dot, hopes the results of the study will lead to a second phase for its existing semiconductor-nanocrystal technology. It may already have a leg-up on rival SNP-detecting companies: its technology was validated with financial and logistical help from GlaxoSmithKline, the granddaddy of SNP research and pharmacogenomics.