<<Another bionewbie question: Just how often during
a disease process does a lab need to get tissue
samples--say from cancer patients? Take RPR's Gencell
/Introgen p53 gene therapy trial for instance (I
assume you are still involved with that). My guess
is that to build a useful gene expression database
you would need samples of tumor at every stage
of treatment--the molecular movie idea. It seems
like this would be incredibly difficult, not only
as far as all the lab work...but for the patients as
well (sorry, a very unpleasant question, but are tumors
continually, er, sampled?) Otherwise you would end up
with a very choppy 'movie', just a few frames: Flash--
cancer inhibiting genes on, flash--they're off.>>
That's a very perceptive observation. Yes, in many cases we will want to get samples at various stages of disease. And that is precisely what we are trying to do, especially with the GeneExpress(TM) databases. For example, we have already analyzed several samples from early- and late-stage Alzheimer's disease.
However, even if we have samples for only one stage of a particular disease, those data may have value, especially if it is a rare sample or a critical stage of the disease. For example, a single expression profile representing an early stage of a disease could be useful in diagnosis.
There is both a quantitative and a qualitative aspect. The more data we have, the better. But for any given number of samples, the database will be more valuable if we have chosen the right samples: i.e., the appropriate types of tissue, the major diseases, the appropriate stages in development of each disease.
<<Is my conceptualization too primitive to really get
a hold on what you fellas do? I have this sci-fi image
of what gene expression databases look like--moving 3D
topographic maps, maybe it was your own website that
implanted that in my noggin, can't seem to shake the image.>>
You should try to get the image out of your head. You will see that we recently took it off the Web site. It was a nice way to represent some data for explanatory purposes, but it doesn't reflect the way our bioinformatics analysts actually work. In about a month I hope to have some screen captures from our new GeneExpress product line to post on the Web. Those images will probably give you a better feel for the current state of our art.
Steve Push
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Gene Logic Inc.
Note: I participate occasionally on this message board as an official company spokesperson. Because of time constraints, however, I cannot respond to all questions. My failure to comment on or respond to someone else's message implies neither agreement nor disagreement with the information in that message. Past messages that I have posted may now contain out-of-date information. To be certain that you have the latest information about Gene Logic, please read recent press releases, SEC filings, and other documents available on our Web site (http://www.genelogic.com). |
