NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Sequencing platform developer ReadCoor has been awarded a $2.5 million, two-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop the infectious disease detection capabilities of its tissue-based fluorescent in situ sequencing (FISSEQ ) technology.
The Gates funding will support development of FISSEQ-based diagnostics and analytical tools specifically targeting pathogens associated with early childhood diseases and epidemics, the firm said. An aim of ReadCoor's in situ approach is also to create a disease atlas based on FISSEQ's comprehensive view of interactions between cells and tissues.
"We are committed to applying the FISSEQ platform for the benefit of humankind and we applaud the Gates Foundation for its vision and willingness to support innovative approaches to age-old problems," ReadCoor Co-Founder and CEO Shawn Marcell said in a statement.
A spinout of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, the firm raised $23 million in Series A funding earlier this year. ReadCoor has said it will offer the proprietary FISSEQ technology as a service, and plans to develop a platform for in situ sequencing.