Microchip Biotechnologies Inc. Awarded $6.1M Grant To Build Next-Generation DNA Sequencer
Published: Nov 10, 2004
FREMONT, Calif., Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Microchip Biotechnologies Inc.
(MBI) announced today that it has been awarded a $6.1 million grant from the
National Human Genome
Research Institute (NHGRI) to develop an innovative nanofluidic technological
platform that promises to dramatically reduce the cost of DNA sequencing. The
grant was the largest in a series of eleven awards totaling $38M announced on
October 14 by NHGRI (part of the US National Institutes of Health), with the goal of
broadening the applications of genomic information in medical research and
healthcare. NHGRI's near-term goal is to lower the cost of sequencing a
mammalian-sized genome to $100,000 or less, which would enable researchers to
sequence the genomes of hundreds or even thousands of people as part of studies
to identify genes that contribute to cancer, diabetes and other common
diseases.
"We are very pleased to receive this award which
recognizes MBI's unique capabilities in developing advanced instrumentation for
genomics and DNA sequencing," said Dr. Stevan Jovanovich, the Principal
Investigator on the grant and MBI's President and CEO. Dr. Jovanovich was
formerly the Vice President for Global Research at Amersham Biosciences.
"Our effort will combine the talents of MBI's scientific and engineering
staff with some of the leading researchers in the fields
of genomics, chemistry, and molecular biology based at U.C. Berkeley,
Northwestern University and Columbia University."
MBI plans to build a Microbead INtegrated DNA Sequencer
(MINDS) System which will push Sanger-based sequencing toward its ultimate
performance limit in a completely automated bench-top system. The MINDS System
retains the advantages of current DNA sequencing methods, including
well-developed community infrastructure, commercial availability of reagents,
and existing base-calling and analysis software, but employs proprietary new
technologies that reduce process volumes to the nanoliter scale.
The heart of the MINDS System will be microfabricated
glass wafers with on-chip valves, pumps, and routers connecting etched
nanofluidic channels that can label, amplify, and purify DNA fragments retained
on individual microbeads, followed by ultra-fast separation and analysis of
fluorescently-tagged products in etched on-chip electrophoresis channels. The
MINDS microchips will replace not only the fused silica capillaries used in
current sequencing hardware, but also entire laboratories full of sample
preparation equipment. MBI projects that its MINDS System will reduce the cost
of current DNA sequencing methodologies by a factor of 100 or more.
Collaborating with MBI to develop important enabling
technology related to the amplification and selection of clones and associated
nanofluidics will be Professor Richard A. Mathies at U.C. Berkeley, who stated,
"MBI is uniquely positioned to exploit the cutting edge technologies
developed by our collaborative research. Its team has many years of industrial
experience designing and building leading instrumentation platforms used in the
life sciences industry."
Also collaborating with MBI will be Professor Annelise
Barron at Northwestern University in Illinois, who will develop novel DNA
separation matrices for the on-chip etched electrophoresis channels, and
Professor Jingyue Ju at the Columbia University Genome Sequencing Center in New
York, who will evaluate prototype MINDS Systems as a beta test site.
"Receiving this grant is an important independent
validation not only of MBI's technological approach, but also of the scientific
and management teams we have assembled to move this important effort
forward," said Dr. Robert Stack, MBI's Vice President of Corporate and
Business Development. "We believe the MINDS System will provide genome
center DNA sequencing capabilities to individual research laboratories at an
affordable price. The integration of nanoscale sample preparation and microchip
analysis in the MINDS System should help to usher in further advances in
biomedical research, health care, and personalized medicine as well as
forensics and infectious disease detection."
About MBI: Microchip Biotechnologies Inc., http://www.microchipbiotech.com/, is an early-stage, privately-held company located in Fremont, CA that is developing advanced nanofluidic sample preparation and analytical instrumentation for the genomics and biodefense markets based on their proprietary NanoBioProcessor(TM) platform.
Connecting the Dots:
In-Q-Tel was
an investor in Microchip Biotechnologies,
Inc.
Charles G. Boyd is a trustee
at In-Q-Tel and married to Jessica Tuchman Mathews.
Jessica Tuchman Mathews is
married to Charles G. Boyd, a
director at the Nuclear Threat Initiative
(think tank), the president of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and was an honorary
trustee at the Brookings Institution (think
tank).
Margaret A.
Hamburg is the VP for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank) and was a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think
tank) was a funder for the Nuclear
Threat Initiative (think tank).
Donald Kennedy was
a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank) and a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Mark B. McClellan was
a commissioner for the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Foundation to Promote Open Society was
a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank), the Brookings Institution (think tank), the Center for American Progress,
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society,
a supporter for the Center for American
Progress and is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.
Open Society Foundations was a
funder for the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace (think tank) and
the Center for American Progress.
Ezekiel Emanuel is
a senior fellow at the Center for American
Progress and was the founding chair of the Department of Bioethics
at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH).
Sherrilyn Ifill was
the chair, U.S. programs for the Open
Society Foundations, is the president & director-counsel for
the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational
Fund and a law professor at the University
of Maryland.
Institute for Genome Sciences is
an institute at the University of Maryland.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was
a funder for the NAACP Legal Defense &
Educational Fund.
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society
and is the founder & chairman for the Open
Society Foundations.
Open Society Foundations was a
funder for the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
Robert Jeffrey
is a director at the Atlantic Council of
the United States (think tank) and was a board member for the CDC Foundation.
CDC Foundation is a foundation
for the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC).
Amy Robbins
Towers is a board member for the CDC
Foundation, a director at the Human
Rights Watch, was a director at the Millennium
Promise and married to Larry
Robbins.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was
a funder for the Human Rights Watch, the Millennium
Promise and the Robin Hood Foundation.
George Soros was the chairman
for the Foundation to Promote Open Society
and a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch.
Larry Robbins is
a director at the Robin Hood Foundation
and was married to Amy Robbins Towers.
Emma Bloomberg was
the chief of staff for the Robin Hood
Foundation, Michael R.
Bloomberg’s daughter and is a director at the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Michael R.
Bloomberg was a donor for the Robin
Hood Foundation, is Emma Bloomberg’s father
and the founder of the Bloomberg Family
Foundation.
Bloomberg Family Foundation was
a funder for the CDC Foundation.
CDC Foundation is a foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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