Applied Gene Technologies Patent Issued: DNA Microarrays with Stem-Loop DNA ``Hairpin'' Probes Improve Specificity in Gene Analysis.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--June 3, 2002 Applied Gene Technologies Inc. today announced that it has received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO or USPTO) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides patent protection to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property (No. 6,380,377) titled "Nucleic Acid Hairpin hairpin a secondary structure that occurs in single-strand RNA during protein synthesis in which the strand turns back on itself. The structure is the result of base pairing and hydrogen bond formation. Probes." "Our invention, stem-loop 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. 'hairpin' probes, gives us a competitive advantage in enhanced nucleic acid hybridization Hybridization is the process, discovered by Alexander Rich, of combining complementary, single-stranded nucleic acids into a single molecule. Nucleotides will bind to their complement under normal conditions, so two perfectly complementary strands will bind to each other readily. analysis which is uniquely sequence specific," stated Nani Dattagupta, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of Applied Gene Technologies. "The new patent provides for stem-loop DNA probes -- oligonucleotide probes containing 'hairpin' structures -- or arrays of such oligonucleotide probes immobilized on a solid support and suitable for hybridization hybridization /hy·brid·iza·tion/ (hi?brid-i-za´shun) 1. crossbreeding; the act or process of producing hybrids. 2. molecular hybridization 3. analysis." Methods for nucleic acid hybridization analysis using stem-loop DNA "hairpin" probes, or an array of immobilized probes are also protected. Applied Gene Technologies' stem-loop DNA "hairpin" probes invention out-performs existing single-stranded probes for target hybridization by delivering a more stable target-probe complex, more efficient enzymatic reactions, more sensitivity to mismatches and less non-specific binding of targets. These advantages improve the specificity of gene analysis. "The stem-loop DNA 'hairpin' probes invention can have a substantial impact on high-throughput screening via microarray analysis platform technologies," added Dr. Dattagupta. "Because of the new invention's unique structure and built in signal amplification, use of AGTI's patented stem-loop DNA 'hairpin' probes can improve the specificity of microarray-based automated genetic analysis." TAT(TM)'s innovative and proprietary nucleic acid binding ligands and a patented universal "cocktail" reagent combined with photochemical photochemical in laser treatment, the laser light is absorbed and converted into chemical energy. techniques can identify and label any target nucleic acid in a crude sample. The reaction is simple and involves the labeling of unpurified Adj. 1. unpurified - not made pure impure - combined with extraneous elements nucleic acid samples with luminescent lu·mi·nes·cent adj. Capable of, suitable for, or exhibiting luminescence. [Latin l  men, l compounds followed by hybridization with target specific stem-loop DNA "hairpin" probes for the detection of sequences of the target marker genes. The proprietary compounds place multiple labels directly on the DNA, yielding the desired nucleic acid signal "amplification." Nucleic acid hybridization analysis utilizing stem-loop DNA "hairpin" probes improves the specificity of identification of multiple genes and/or parallel analysis of multiple DNA samples following a single hybridization with immobilized probes. "Simplicity and flexible design make our stem-loop DNA 'hairpin' probes cost-efficient for robust and high-throughput gene analysis using microarray-based automated techniques," commented C.N. Sridhar, Ph.D., chief operating officer Chief Operating Officer (COO) The officer of a firm responsible for day-to-day management, usually the president or an executive vice-president. of Applied Gene Technologies. "We deliberately built our stem-loop DNA 'hairpin' probes to address the costs and availability issues associated with DNA microarray analysis." Founded in 1998, Applied Gene Technologies is a pioneering biotechnology company that has developed Tessera tessera: see mosaic. Array Technology(TM), a broad proprietary platform, which utilizes proprietary compounds to label target nucleic acid analytes for identification. Applied Gene Technologies will deploy their new stem-loop DNA "hairpin" probes invention through strategic partners specialized in automated DNA microarray analyses for Pharmacogenomics and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The company's headquarters are in San Diego. |
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