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2nd
October 2002 - NextGen Sciences Ltd (Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, UK) today
announced that the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is awarding the
Company with its third UK Government Grant.
The DTI is providing NextGen Sciences with £150,000 ($228,000) in
funding to support the development of a commercial version of the Company’s
third technology platform: a system solution that automates the entire process
of 2-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis (2DE). The
field of proteomics continues to expand rapidly, particularly since the first
draft of the Human Genome sequence was co-published by the MRC/Wellcome Sanger
Centre (UK) and Celara Inc (USA). The
main technologies used in proteome research are complex separation technologies
combined with sophisticated analysis using mass spectrometry.
The
“workhorse” for protein expression analysis over the last 25 years has been
2DE, which has become the defacto standard technology for separating complex
mixtures of proteins from biological samples.
Once separated in the 2-DE gel, individual proteins can then be analysed
and identified by mass spectrometry. While
many proteomics technologies have recently undergone dramatic improvements, the
technique of 2DE has barely changed since its inception in 1975.
2DE has remained an irreproducible, difficult, labour intensive, time
consuming and problematic process requiring the researcher to invest many months
of effort to master the technique. The
NextGen Sciences a2DETM system will change all of this.
For the first time, a commercial system will be available to automate the
complete process of protein separation. All
of the steps associated with the 2DE process, from sample introduction, through
the 1st and 2nd dimensional separation using a variety of
gels, will be automated by the a2DE system giving a perfect gel every time.
Through
innovative microfluidics, precision design and innovative software, the a2DE
system controls each step of the process to ensure reproducibility.
A key benefit of the NextGen Sciences technology is ease-of-use so that
any researcher can now master the technique in days rather than months of
practise – a major consideration when increasing numbers of scientists require
the power of this technique and researchers skilled in 2DE are rare and in high
demand. “We
are once again, delighted that we have attracted the support of the DTI to
develop our a2DE technology into a commercial version.” explained Dr Kevin
Auton (CEO). “At every scientific
conference, researchers repeatedly request new tools for protein expression
analysis. Some commercial groups
are developing new technologies as a replacement for 2DE.
However, we believe that the technology is so well established and
powerful, it is short-sighted to abandon it just because 2DE is difficult to
master and to do well. Our a2DE
system levels the playing field – using our technology anyone will be able to
exploit the power of this proven separations technique in their research.
Scientists are under increasing pressure to discover new medicines or to
be the first to publish their discoveries in competitive fields.
Any technology, such as our a2DE system, that saves effort, time and
releases skilled researchers to focus on their science gives a research team a
significant competitive advantage.” “It
is over simplistic to claim that use of a single technology is the perfect
solution for investigation of every protein in every sample.
However, we believe that our a2DE system will make a very real
contribution to disease and drug discovery research when combined with the new
advances in mass spectrometry, 2D chromatography and protein biochips this
decade.” stated Dr Auton. About
NextGen Sciences NextGen
Sciences Ltd is a private company that develops new and innovative technologies
for proteomics research. The first
technology developed by the Company was the ProteinArray Workstation, the
introduction of which was announced in May 2002 and was, in part, funded by the
DTI SMART award announced in June 2001. The
ProteinArray Workstation was launched in July 2002 and is marketed through the
Corporate Partnership agreement with PerkinElmer Life Sciences that the Company
announced in March 2002. The
Company is also developing a series of protein biochips for use in breast cancer
research in collaboration with Cytomyx (Cambridge, UK) and Professor Caldas at
the University of Cambridge. The
new technologies that the Company is developing in this area are, in part,
funded through the Applied Genomics Programme under the DTI LINK scheme that
aims to bring researchers from academia and industry together, an award that was
announced by the Company in January 2002. For
further information, please contact Dr
Linda E Cammish (Business Development Director) NextGen
Sciences Ltd Biggles
House (Building 56) Alconbury North
Airfield Alconbury
Huntingdon Cambridgeshire
PE28 4DA t:
+44 (0) 1480 410 856 f : +44
(0) 1480 410 858 e:
linda.cammish@nextgensciences.com
w: www.nextgensciences.com |
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