OMAHA, Neb., March 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Transgenomic,
Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board:
TBIO) today announced the completion of an expanded license
with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, for the COLD-PCR
(CO-amplification at Lower Denaturing temperature PCR) technology.
Previously, Transgenomic had licensed exclusive rights to COLD-PCR
for Sanger Sequencing and mitochondrial DNA analysis. The new
license expands the technology covered to include Ice COLD-PCR, a
technique that further extends the sensitivity of mutation
detection provided by this key technology and also extends the
Company’s licensed exclusivity to include analysis of COLD-PCR
products by Pyrosequencing.
COLD-PCR is a genetic testing approach that selectively
amplifies mutant DNA by recognizing that mutant DNA strands
denature at lower temperatures in a PCR reaction than normal DNA.
Using this proprietary technique, COLD-PCR amplifies mutated DNA
with minimal amplification of the normal DNA. The resultant
PCR-amplified fragment can be easily analyzed with a variety of
sequencing approaches including Sanger sequencing, Pyrosequencing,
real-time PCR or any next generation sequencing technology.
Transgenomic has licensed rights to utilize any of these
techniques. The enhanced analytic sensitivity of COLD-PCR allows
clinicians to use smaller amounts of sample for their genetic
analysis and less intrusive sample collection methods such as a
blood draw for serum or plasma preparation, urine, fine needle
aspirates or bronchial lavage as well as studying mutated DNA in
tumors directly. The addition of the Ice COLD-PCR methodology
further enhances the sensitivity.
Craig Tuttle, Transgenomic CEO, noted: “One of our long-term
corporate strategic initiatives has been to continually develop
ultra-high sensitivity assays and technologies for the detection of
low level DNA mutations. Ice COLD-PCR enable
‘/>”/>
SOURCE
