LaserGen won an SBIR grant from the U.S Army Medical Research and Material Command (USAMRMC) to support studies demonstrating the feasibility of the firm’s next-generation sequencing (NGS) platform to identify wound-infecting pathogens commonly found in combat. The ultimate aim is to develop a rapid, portable pathogen diagnostic system to enable optimum antibiotic use, without the need to resort to broad-spectrum drugs.
LaserGen introduced its NGS system just last month. The platform is based on the firm’s pulsed multiline excitation (PME) detection technique, Lightning Terminators™ chemistry, and photocleavable cyclic reversible terminator technology.
Details about the structure of its Lightning Terminators were published Angewandte Chemie in January. “This milestone illustrates not only the superior accuracy of the system, but also the lower cost it enabled by reducing informatics needs and validation efforts,” comments Michale Metzker, Ph.D., LaserGen CEO. “This field technology being developed for the U.S. army is only one of many potential applications of the LaserGen approach.”