Automated CGH Mapping

New technology called BlueFuse uses statistical modeling techniques to eliminate "noise” generated in microarray experiments, enabling researchers to automatically identify the presence or absence of genes and proteins with a higher level of confidence than they now have.

Array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a specific, sensitive, and fast technique that enables the screening of the whole genome in a single test and as such will facilitate and accelerate the diagnostic process in human genetics. Array CGH is used to identify areas of chromosomes, which exhibit amplifications and deletions in the genomic sequence. It offers a fundamental benefit over conventional CGH: improved resolution. It is now possible to identify the exact location on the chromosome where an aberration has occurred, and it is possible to map these changes directly onto the genomic sequence.

BlueFuse is the first commercial product to offer fully integrated and automated analysis of array CGH experiments--from microarry image to ideogram--improving both the quality and confidence of the data. "Full tiling path arrays of 30k spots potentially allow the presence of every human gene to be monitored and qualified simultaneously. Analyzing this data presents a series of new mathematical challenges,” said Nick Haan, CEO of BlueGnome (Cambridge, UK), which developed BlueFuse.

BlueFuse uses Bayesian statistics, well proven in other fields such as speech recognition, in combination with its own proprietary technology to develop this new approach to the processing of biotechnology data. The company believes that the ability to automate this analysis will remove the cost, error, and delay of manual intervention and enable drug discovery companies to base crucial commercial decisions on a far broader range of data than is currently possible.




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