A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

Nanogen (San Diego), developer of advanced diagnostic products, reported that it has entered into a supply and license agreement with deCode Genetics (Reykjavik, Iceland) to provide a new genomics assay for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) discovery, validation and screening.

The assay incorporates a full range of Nanogen's products, including the Eclipse Dark Quencher, new DNA linker technology, modified bases and novel fluorescent dyes, and allows rapid SNP analysis on a large number of patient samples.

Asterand (Detroit), a supplier of human tissue analysis services, and CompuCyte (Cambridge, Massachusetts), a maker of laser scanning cytometers, entered an agreement that allows Asterand to include quantitative cytometric analysis of tissues and tissue microarrays as a part of its current research molecular pathology services.

The offering is an extension of Asterand's molecular pathology contract research service, which specializes in immunohistochemistry and RNA in situ hybridization studies using human tissue samples assembled into tissue microarrays selected from its global biorepository of clinically obtained specimens.

Pharmaceutical and biotech companies contract with the company for validation of antibody therapeutics through tissue cross-reactivity screening, protein target localization studies, and cell-specific gene expression studies using results and analysis of microarray data. The availability of quantitative cytometric sample analysis, in addition to classic pathology assessment, provides the added benefit of complete objectivity and increased analytic throughput.

CompuCyte's iGeneration Imaging Cytometers are designed to allow simultaneous quantitative analysis of fluorescently and chromatically stained tissue sections. Image processing techniques correct for background fluorescence and spectral overlap of both fluorescent dyes and chromophores, and the resulting high-resolution images are archived for assay validation. The technology permits visualization and quantification of cellular processes that may not be observable through microscopy alone.