Oncor Inc. announced Tuesday that it has obtained an exclusivelicense from the University of Utah for DNA probes to theelastin gene. The company said the probes will make it possibleto identify a subset of individuals who are at risk fordeveloping vascular disease.

Oncor (NASDAQ:ONCR) said mutations in the elastin gene areassociated with Williams syndrome, which causes vasculardisease, connective tissue abnormalities and mentalretardation, and with supravascular aortic stenosis (narrowingof the ascending aorta).

The Gaithersburg, Md., company has several exclusiveworldwide licensing agreements for a variety of DNA probes.They include agreements with Arch Development Corp. for DNAprobes for the diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia,Cancer Research Campaign Technology Ltd. for DNA probes thatidentify the telomere of each human chromosome, Children'sHospital of Philadelphia for DNA probes to identify disordersassociated with chromosome 22 abnormalities, and theUniversity of Colorado Health Sciences Center for DNA probes todiagnose acute myelogenous leukemia. -- Brenda Sandburg

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