HybSelect DNA capture technology enriches target exons for Illumina resequencing.

The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) elected to use febit’s automated HybSelect™ DNA sequence capture technology for a gene resequencing program it hopes will ultimately lead to the development of tests for identifying recessive genetic diseases in prospective parents.

Based on the Geniom RT Analyzer platform, the automated HybSelect technology will be used to capture specific exons of interest for resequencing using Illumina next-generation sequencing technology. 

The NCGR project will be carried out in partnership with the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation and aims to resequence the exons of genes involved in over 400 childhood diseases. Stephen Kingsmore, CEO at NCGR, says that the nonprofit organization was “impressed by the unique flexibility and scalability of febit’s HybSelect technology and with the ease of integration in production sequencing with Illumina Genome Analyzers.”
 
Launched in March 2009, HybSelect has been developed to enable the sequence capture of specific regions of interest from complex mixtures such as large eukaryotic genomes. Febit says the recovered DNA is ideal for targeted resequencing on next-generation sequencing systems. Validated protocols and HybSelect performance data from the Illumina Genome Analyzer are already available, with protocols for the Applied Biosystems’ SOLiD and 454 Life Sciences’ FLX expected to follow soon, the company maintains.

In July Febit launched the first human cancer biochip for HybSelect. The catalog cancer biochip features 115 genes that are reportedly associated with common types of cancer. The company said a 2 Mb exon cancer biochip is also due for launch this year and a 30 Mb biochip is planned for release in 2010.

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