New Technology Simplifies Gene Expression

New technology called DACS (discriminative analysis of clone signatures) is designed to simplify functional genomics. The first application is GE-DACS, to eliminate bottlenecks in the discovery process of genes expressed in tissue or in a cell.

The technology, based on EST (expressed sequence tag) sequencing, reduces cost while offering the same advantages. DACS marks only one nucleotide of the four composing DNA (A, C, G, T) and includes a capillary multiplex sequencing, thus offering high-throughput (1,536 samples per run). A patented signal analysis technology applied to sequencing results discriminates identical clones from the different ones, thus allowing the discovery of genes expressed. Unlike existing processes, DACS reduces the expense and time needed to generate resources and information for the expression analysis of genes.

DACS can speed up the discovery process and also facilitate expression analysis without the need to access data relating to the organism in question. Because it is based on the generation of complementary DNA clones, DACS ensures that these biological resources are kept intact, and a link to the information produced is established for each clone. If, during the discovery process, researchers suspect the implication of a particular gene in a disease, they can access the initial biological resource and begin an in-depth analysis.

The simplicity of the process means that experiments can be more easily reproduced. This is crucial for differential expression analysis, for example, where gene expression in a normal cell is compared to a cancerous cell. Other applications for DACS include genome sequencing finishing and structural differential genome analysis. DACS was developed by Genome express (Grenoble, France).

"GE-DACS enriches our technology portfolio with the addition of high-throughput differential expression analysis,” said Yves Laurent, CEO of Genome express. "DACS is proof of Genome express's ability to develop innovative proprietary tools linking molecular biology to bioinformatics.”




Related Links:
www.genomex.com