Oncor Inc. has acquired an exclusive license to genetictechnology that may permit the detection of genetic mutationsassociated with hereditary nonpolyposis colon cancer (HNPCC).

The Gaithersburg, Md., company announced last week that itlicensed the technology from Albert de la Chapelle of theUniversity of Helsinki. Working with other researchers,Chapelle discovered the genetic mutations responsible forHNPCC, which Oncor said accounts for approximately 6-16percent of all colon cancer.

Oncor (NASDAQ:ONCR) markets a test for diagnosis of leukemiaand lymphoma and DNA probes for prenatal screening ofchromosomal abnormalities and fragile X syndrome. Thecompany also has an Her-2/heu DNA probe in clinicaldevelopment for detection of gene amplification in breastcancer cells. -- Brenda Sandburg

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