Agencourt Receives Exclusive Patent for Size Selective Binding of Nucleic Acids on Magnetic Particles; New Patent Strengthens Agencourt's SPRI-based Patent Portfolio.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K BEVERLY, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 9, 2003 Agencourt Bioscience Corporation, a provider of genomic services and nucleic acid purification products to the life sciences industry, announced today the issuance of Patent No. 6,534,262, for the size selective binding of nucleic acids to paramagnetic par·a·mag·net·ic adj. Relating to or being a substance in which an induced magnetic field is parallel and proportional to the intensity of the magnetizing field but is much weaker than in ferromagnetic materials. microparticles. This patent, which is owned by the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, has been exclusively licensed to Agencourt, and is the latest addition to the company's patent estate for isolating nucleic acids using Solid Phase Reversible Immobilization Immobilization Definition Immobilization refers to the process of holding a joint or bone in place with a splint, cast, or brace. This is done to prevent an injured area from moving while it heals. (SPRI SPRI Scott Polar Research Institute (University of Cambridge) SPRI Single Ply Roofing Institute SPRI Schering-Plough Research Institute (Corporate division) (TM)). The patent complements Agencourt's existing exclusively licensed technologies for magnetic-based, size selective DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. isolation (Hawkins, et. al.). Functional groups on the surface of the paramagnetic microparticles act as a bioaffinity adsorbent adsorbent /ad·sor·bent/ (ad-sor´bent) 1. pertaining to or characterized by adsorption. 2. a substance that attracts other materials or particles to its surface by adsorption. for the targeted nucleic acids. Separation is accomplished by manipulating the composition of the binding solution to selectively precipitate, and reversibly adsorb adsorb /ad·sorb/ (ad-sorb´) to attract and retain other material on the surface; to conduct the process of adsorption. ad·sorb v. To take up by adsorption. , the target species of nucleic acid molecule characterized by a specific molecular size. The patent was co-authored in part by Agencourt Co-Chief Scientific Officers Kevin McKernan and Paul McEwan. "The United States Patent and Trademark Office's issuance of this patent underscores Agencourt's confidence in our pipeline of current and pending DNA purification patents. The majority of Human and Mouse Genome Projects utilized SPRI-based methods. As a result, no other purification technology has contributed as many base pairs to GenBank(TM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH "Not invented here." See digispeak. NIH - The United States National Institutes of Health. ) genetic sequence database of all publicly available DNA sequences," said Kevin McKernan. About Agencourt Bioscience Corporation Agencourt Bioscience Corporation is a provider of genomic services and nucleic acid purification products that help biotech and pharmaceutical companies improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their drug development pipelines. Agencourt's Discovery Solutions(TM) suite of genomic and functional genomic services includes high-throughput sequencing, SAGE(TM) sequencing, SNP SNP Scottish National Party Noun 1. SNP - (genetics) genetic variation in a DNA sequence that occurs when a single nucleotide in a genome is altered; SNPs are usually considered to be point mutations that have been evolutionarily discovery and genotyping. The company's purification products and services are based on the proven and patented Solid Phase Reversible Immobilization (SPRI) technology, which has been adopted by several of the largest genome research facilities, resulting in more base pairs contributed to GenBank than any other nucleic acid purification technology and used to sequence over one-third of the human genome. Agencourt has been confirmed to be operating in compliance with the requirements of the Good Laboratory Practices (GLP See gateway location protocol. ) as a contract analytical laboratory. Several of Agencourt's founders worked at the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research, and have significant experience in combining the chemistries and instrumentation for high-throughput genomics. Agencourt is located in Beverly, Massachusetts and is available on the Web at www.agencourt.com. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion