Overview

Founded in 1995, Digital Gene Technologies Inc. (DGT) combines patented genomics technology with bioinformatics to analyze gene expression. The company’s TOGA (Total Gene Expression Analysis) technology serves as the basis for its numerous collaborations with academia and industry. TOGA technology is a method of identifying and determining the concentration of nearly all of the genes active in a sample cell or tissue. The method provides an inventory of gene activity in a sample and helps to define the function of the array of genes comprising any genome.

DGT has its own internal program, a brain anatomy project, to identify structure-specific genes in the hypothalamus, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, striatum, amygdale, thalamus, cerebellum and olfactory bulb. The company has a collaboration with Immunex Corp. to identify and develop target molecules for gastrointestinal inflammation. It also has a collaboration with Elan Pharmaceuticals to identify and develop drug target for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease models.

Partners

DGT has a collaboration with Elan Pharmaceutical Technologies, of Dublin, Ireland, to use DGT's tissue-specific molecules to design new drug delivery strategies. The company also has a collaboration with Elan Pharmaceuticals, of South San Francisco, in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases as well as an agreement with Immunex Corp., of Seattle, for the discovery of genes important in gastrointestinal inflammation.