Sample sets from BioServe’s Global Repository of over 600,000 human DNA, tissue, and serum samples will be made available.

The Specialized Clinical Center of Research (SCCOR) will use BioServe’s offerings for its study to identify the genetic cause of thoracic aortic disease.  The company will provide the SCCOR researchers with access to certain unique sample sets from its Global Repository of over 600,000 human DNA, tissue, and serum samples linked to detailed clinical and demographic data to assist in identifying genes that are predictive of the development and progression of thoracic aortic diseases.


“Through this landmark study we hope to define DNA sequence variants in a few target genes and their interacting environmental risk factors that are responsible for a significant proportion of the thoracic aortic diseases,” explains Xin Li Wang, a professor and director in the cardiothoracic research laboratory in the division of cardiothoracic surgery of the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine. “By identifying the underlying and specific genetic causes of thoracic aortic disease we will provide doctors with the ability to predict which patients are at higher risk of aortic rupture and treat them earlier.”


The SCCOR is a collaborative program by University of Texas Health Science Center Houston, Baylor College of Medicine, and University of Texas Medical Branch. The study is underwritten by a five-year inter-institutional grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and is being carried out at the Specialized Center for Clinically Oriented Research in Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms and Dissections in the Texas Medical Center.

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