LA JOLLA, Calif.--Digital Gene Technologies selected Indiana University scientists Ting-Kai Li and Lucinda Carr to use its total gene expression analysis (TOGA) technology to identify genes associated with alcohol-seeking behavior, a key factor underlying the disease of alcoholism.
The academic collaboration is the third entered into by the total gene expression company here which is making its patented technology available to leading research scientists. (See BioInform, April 13, 1998.)
Li and Carr, of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, will utilize the technology to identify mRNAs that are differentially expressed in rats carrying natural genetic variants for alcohol preference, seeking important insights into the genetics of human alcoholism.
Li said, "Digital Gene's automated technology will allow us to analyze thousands of mRNAs and to identify those genes unique to the alcohol-preferring and alcohol-nonpreferring rat lines, regardless of whether the gene has been previously discovered. This ability to assemble, analyze, and prioritize large numbers of both known and novel genes will dramatically accelerate our research and discovery effort."