Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced a collaboration with Cell
Line Genetics, Inc., a leading provider of cell-line
characterization and quality assurance services. CLG will develop
high-throughput, genomic characterization workflows to confirm and
monitor the integrity of cell lines for translational and regenerative
medicine research. The workflows will be based upon Agilent’s custom,
targeted CGH+SNP microarrays and SureFISH technology.
“Cell Line Genetics customers in the regenerative medicine research
market include leading research institutions, biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies,” said Victor Fung, Agilent’s senior director
of Global Marketing for the Genomics Solutions Division. “These diverse
customers will benefit from services better tailored to meet their
needs. In addition, Cell Line Genetics can better control operating
costs because targeted array CGH designs can focus probe density where
it matters most, enabling much faster data interpretation than SNP
microarrays. Speed of analysis is particularly important in this
high-throughput environment.”
CLG selected Agilent’s genome-wide CGH+SNP microarrays for their
capability, in a predictable high-throughput environment, to detect
amplifications, deletions and cell line clonality with high sensitivity.
CLG will use FISH assays to confirm aberrations identified down to the
single-cell level. This approach provides a robust, best-in-class means
of characterizing genome integrity and purity.
For cancer cell line characterization, CLG will offer array CGH (aCGH)
services as it is able to simultaneously detect a large number of
anomalies more accurately, with higher sensitivity, and with better
coverage than traditional cytogenetics. In addition, when using aCGH,
CLG can offer a faster turnaround time to customers.
After testing more than 15,000 stem cell lines, CLG found that 20
percent showed aneuploidy, and 60 to 70 percent of those were mosaic.
Most significantly, the cells harboring genomic anomalies can have a
proliferative advantage and overtake the culture, compromising the
validity of study data and resulting in the loss of samples, time and
funds.
“Collaborating with Agilent on custom microarray and SureFISH probe
solutions gives us the most flexibility to innovate and expand our
services,” said Rob Herrera, CEO and president, Cell Line Genetics. “For
example, we can fortify our arrays in regions that we have identified as
‘integrity critical’ for even greater sensitivity. It allows us to
easily design proprietary arrays and assays to support our customer’s
research and translational needs.”
About Agilent in Genomics
Agilent is a global leader in target enrichment for next-generation
sequencing and genomic microarrays. The Agilent SureSelect and HaloPlex
target-enrichment systems enable researchers to easily choose which
segments of a genome to sequence, avoiding the time and expense needed
to sequence the entire genome. HaloPlex offers a same-day
sample-to-sequencer workflow; SureSelect can accurately capture whole
exomes and whole methylomes in a single reaction. These are just two
products arising from Agilent’s expertise in synthesizing custom complex
mixtures of long oligonucleotides gained in microarray manufacturing.
Additional product lines built on this core technology include
microarrays for genome-wide measurement of gene expression and for
comparative genomics hybridization, as well as SureFISH, a highly
specific and sensitive product line for oligonucleotide fluorescent in
situ hybridization. In addition to oligonucleotide-based products,
Agilent offers a microfluidic bioanlyzer to measure sample quality, and
a full set of reagents, hardware, methods and bioinformatics software
for genomic experiments.
For more information on Agilent’s complete line of Genomics solutions,
visit: www.chem.agilent.com/en-US/Solutions/Genomics/Pages/default.aspx.
About Cell Line Genetics, Inc.
Cell
Line Genetics, Inc. is a leading provider of Quality Assurance
services and products for the Regenerative Medicine market. The company
focuses on ensuring the genetic integrity and authentication of adult
and pluripotent stem cell lines for research, preclinical and clinical
studies. Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, and with offices in New
York City, clients include leading universities, research institutes,
biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) is the world’s premier measurement
company and a technology leader in chemical analysis, life sciences,
diagnostics, electronics and communications. The company’s 20,600
employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. Agilent had
revenues of $6.8 billion in fiscal 2013. Information about Agilent is
available at www.agilent.com.
On Sept. 19, 2013, Agilent announced plans to separate into two publicly
traded companies through a tax-free spinoff of its electronic
measurement business. The new company is named Keysight Technologies,
Inc. The separation is expected to be completed in early November 2014.
NOTE TO EDITORS: Further technology, corporate citizenship and executive
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Copyright Business Wire 2014