Ambion to Provide MitoCheck Consortium a Genome-Wide siRNA Library.

AUSTIN, Texas & HUNTINGDON, U.K. -- Ambion (Austin, Texas, USA) and Ambion (Europe) Ltd. announced an agreement with the MitoCheck consortium to provide a genome-wide siRNA library targeting every human gene. MitoCheck, which is an EU-funded integrated, multinational research consortium, will use a genome-wide human siRNA (short interfering RNA) library produced by Ambion in experiments designed to answer fundamental questions of how cell division is regulated.

The MitoCheck consortium will systematically search for human genes that have a role in mitosis, which is an important factor in cancer. A key method for this endeavor is the use of siRNAs to silence or reduce the level of expression for each gene. Ambion's genome-wide siRNA library, which comprises a set of siRNAs targeting every human gene, can be used to turn off each gene in the human genome one gene at a time. The effects of eliminating each individual gene product can then be monitored to gain a better understanding of each gene's role within the cell. EMBL chose Ambion's siRNA library based on its comprehensive coverage of the human genome, the high efficacy of the siRNAs within the library, and because of Ambion's expertise and reputation for cutting edge research in RNAi. The genome-wide screening began in early 2005 and is already showing excellent results.

"This project highlights the possibilities using RNAi methods," said Matt Winkler, Ambion CEO and CSO. "Only five years ago, almost all research was done by studying one gene at a time. RNAi and the genome projects have moved research into a new paradigm. It seems that almost every experiment now requires an RNAi component and gene expression analysis of the entire genome. In another five years, the requirements will be even higher."

Jan Ellenberg, EMBL Group Leader and co-initiator of the MitoCheck project, commented, "The MitoCheck project group here at EMBL is happy to add Ambion to its group of industrial collaborators, and is excited about the scope of the project. The initial screening results of thousands of genes are very encouraging."

The MitoCheck project is the largest Integrated Project on cell cycle control within the 6th Framework Programme (FP6) of the European Union. The MitoCheck consortium includes both academic groups and commercial entities. The academic groups include: the European Molecular Biology Laboratories (EMBL), Germany; the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK; Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP), Austria; Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), Germany; Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (CBG), Germany; European Institute of Oncology (EIO), Italy; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique(CNRS), France; Clare Hall Laboratories, Cancer Research UK (CHL-CRUK), UK; Department of Pathology, University College London (UCL), UK. The commercial companies include Leica Microsystems CMS GmbH, Germany and Gene Bridges GmbH, Germany.

Ambion, Inc., The RNA Company, is a leader in the development and supply of innovative, RNA-based life science research and molecular diagnostic products. Ambion (Europe) Ltd. is a subsidiary of Ambion, Inc., and serves many of the countries of Europe. Ambion has taken a leadership role in developing products for handling, preserving, isolating, detecting and measuring RNA in areas such as molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology, drug discovery and genomics. Ambion has been active in RNAi research and providing RNAi related products since 2001, and recently received recognition as the leading RNAi company by The Scientist. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.ambion.com.