OGT Announces Major Role In Large Scale Diabetes Study
Genefficiency aCGH microarray service to process extensive sample set linking CNVs to disease susceptibility
Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), provider of innovative clinical genetics and diagnostic solutions to advance molecular medicine, has recently announced details of a major project with the University of Virginia Center for Public Health Genomics. In a groundbreaking study, Professor Stephen Rich, Director of the centre, will utilise OGT's Genefficiency aCGH microarray screening service to investigate the relationship between genome structural variation and susceptibility to type 1 (T1) diabetes. Employing a unique array design developed from recent work exploring genome wide copy number variations (CNVs), the new study will utilise an extensive collection of over 10,000 patient samples in the hope of identifying CNVs associated with T1 diabetes. This will allow researchers to better predict disease susceptibility and highlight potential opportunities for therapeutic manipulation.
T1 diabetes results from the misregulation of blood sugar levels. Studies investigating the presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have indentified more than 50 areas of the human genome associated with diabetes, although the data gathered so far fails to fully explain the inherited component of the disease. In a number of diseases, including autism and Crohn's disease, genomic variations affecting disease phenotypes have been associated with CNVs rather than SNPs, prompting this investigation by Professor Rich into the effect of CNVs on the incidence of T1 diabetes.
Professor Rich explained that in order to assess the genome variability of such a large sample collection: "We decided to utilise OGT's Genefficiency service to generate data from our samples following their very successful screening of 22,000 samples in 20 weeks for the Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium CNV study." James Clough, OGT's Vice President of Clinical and Genomic Solutions added: "OGT has proven ability to handle large sample sets at high throughput, with a combination of rapid result generation and dependable data accuracy. We are extremely pleased to be working with Professor Rich in this study, which should help provide new insights into the genetic risk factors associated with T1 diabetes and may identify new therapeutic targets."
The study, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, commences with a 1000 patient pilot study, followed by the wide scale characterisation of over 10,000 samples from affected sibling pair families, trios and case-control samples. This will allow the precise, genome-wide characterisation of markers associated with T1 diabetes.
Collaborators in the study include Matt Hurles' group at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, John Todd's group at the University of Cambridge, and Vincent Plagnol at University College London. Professor Rich commented "This project is a true team effort and OGT are a major part of this. Their experience helps keep the project on track and they know what it takes to deliver high quality results."
About Oxford Gene Technology
Founded by Professor Ed Southern, Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) provides innovative clinical genetics and diagnostic solutions to advance molecular medicine. For more information, visit www.ogt.co.uk.
Clinical & Genomic Solutions: OGT's Genefficiency is a unique combination of world-leading platforms, people, processing power and performance synchronised to deliver rapid, high quality genomic data to customers worldwide. The OGT CytoSure cytogenetics array, labelling and interpretation software products and services provide a complete solution for the detection of chromosomal abnormalities. Together, Genefficiency and CytoSure offer a unique, standardised and integrated solution for cytogenetics research.
Biomarker Discovery: OGT has a proven pedigree in genomic technology, which, together with the experience gained through the purchase of Sense Proteomic in 2009, enables OGT to develop highly specific customised genomic and proteomic biomarker panels for cancer and other diseases. OGT develops these for clinical screening and companion diagnostics requirements, both for direct sale and also for collaboration with partner companies.
About Stephen Rich, PhD
Stephen Rich, PhD, is a world leader in the field of genetic epidemiology and Director of the University of Virginia Center for Public Health Genomics. Dr. Rich leads a team of investigators who are working to translate findings from the Human Genome Project and other international genomic initiatives into usable science and treatments to benefit those with type 1 diabetes. His team is identifying potential genetic biomarkers that can be useful in assessing risk for developing the disease and its complications. Dr. Rich heads the National Institutes of Health Type I Diabetes Genetics Consortium, an international effort to understand the genes that underlie type 1 diabetes and its complications.
About The University of Virginia Center for Public Health Genomics
The University of Virginia Center for Public Health Genomics was established January, 2007. The Center now includes over 50 researchers, including twelve resident and over forty affiliated and visiting faculty. The Center's focus of research is to obtain a better understanding of the genetic factors that contribute to individual variation in human disease risk. The Center's position in the University of Virginia School of Medicine contributes to the atmosphere of translational and personalized medicine - moving gene discovery (and the manner in which genes interact with environment) into the delivery of health care and of disease prevention both in clinical settings as well as in the community.
CytoSure: For research use only
This product is provided under an agreement between Agilent Technologies, Inc., and OGT. The manufacture, use, sale or import of this product may be subject to one or more of U.S. patents, pending applications, and corresponding international equivalents, owned by Agilent Technologies, Inc. The purchaser has the non-transferable right to use and consume the product for RESEARCH USE ONLY AND NOT for DIAGNOSTICS PROCEDURES. It is not intended for use, and should not be used, for the diagnosis, prevention, monitoring, treatment or alleviation of any disease or condition, or for the investigation of any physiological process, in any identifiable human, or for any other medical purpose.
SOURCE: Oxford Gene Technology