Blue Heron Biotechnology, Inc. Awarded a Phase II SBIR Grant for Reliably Assembling Large DNA Fragments.

BOTHELL, Wash. -- Blue Heron Biotechnology, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Science (NIGMS) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). The $769,250 grant will fund research to develop methods for assembling very large recombinant DNA molecules. This is a continuation of Phase I research where scientists at Blue Heron successfully demonstrated a new restriction technology that allows release of any cloned fragment, regardless of its length or the presence of conventional restriction sites. If the Phase II research is successful, this technology will allow Blue Heron to extend its GeneMaker(R) gene synthesis service to produce fragments of 100,000 base pairs or more.

Dr. John Mulligan, President and CEO, stated, "Blue Heron is deeply appreciative of the SBIR program at the National Institutes of Health in general, and the NIGMS and NHGRI in particular. Their support of innovative technology has helped to make Blue Heron a leader in the field of gene synthesis and in turn has helped to improve the efficiency of our customers in many areas of biomedical research. Blue Heron is one of the few companies that routinely provides fragments of 10 to 20 kilo bases in length; this project could allow us to produce the largest mammalian genes and even bacterial chromosomes as a standard part of our service."

About Blue Heron Biotechnology

Blue Heron Biotechnology, Inc., was founded in 1999 to industrialize gene synthesis. Blue Heron Bio's proprietary Gene Maker(R) has synthesized highly complex genes and genes longer than 20kb with 100% accuracy. Today, hundreds of researchers from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as academic and government laboratories buy synthetic genes from Blue Heron Bio, the Gene Synthesis Specialist.