French genomics company IntegraGen has discovered a groundbreaking method of identifying causal disease genes, with the aid of Applied BiosystemsÆ custom assays and the SNPIex genotyping system.
Disease map
Its gene-mapping technology û genome hybrid identity profiling (GenomeHIP) û works on the assumption that the same disease genes will be found in related individuals with the same disease, so the disease loci can be mapped by removing non-identical DNA sequences the genomes share.
J÷rg Hager, IntegraGenÆs chief scientific officer, explained how Applied BiosystemsÆ products have helped: ôFor any disease in a given population, we identify up to seven potential disease loci, assemble a panel of region-specific SNPs and have assays manufactured by Applied Biosystems. Within a couple of days we can use the assays to analyse a large number of individuals using the SNPIex Genotyping System.ö