NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — Duke University will use Illumina's Genome Analyzer to search for genetic variations that may enable some people to be resistant to HIV infections, the company said today.
Researchers at the Center for Human Genome Variation at Duke's Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy will use the technology to sequence the complete genome of at least 50 individuals.
Financial terms of the agreement were not released.
The work will support a study being conducted by Duke University Medical Center that aims to find out why certain individuals exposed to the HIV virus do not become infected with it, the company said.
The DUMC study "represents the first effort to search through the entire human genome for any variants, rare or common, that influence susceptibility to infection by HIV-1," DUMC Director David Goldstein said in a statement.
The DUMC study and the Center for Human Genome Variation's research "will allow us to identify the most important genetic determinants of resistance to HIV-1 and may ultimately point the way toward new therapies to protect against HIV/AIDS," he added.