In last weeks issue of Red Herring, they write of criticism for Incytes's method of identifying genes.
I think DT and Celera use same method, introns. This is good reason why Celera should be allowed to protect their data instead of releasing to public. DT cannot sequence the genome, but they can analyze the data. So the real competitive advantage for Celera is their sequencing data.
Doubletwist spins the business of genomic databases
By Tom Davey
Redherring.com, May 09, 2000
A new rival has emerged in the race to tabulate the locations of the 100,000 or so genes on the human genome. Scientists expect that by locating the genes on human DNA, they will discover new ways to diagnose and treat diseases.
Doubletwist, of Oakland, California, says it has located 65,000 genes with near certainty and has a rough map of 40,000 potential gene locations, some of which may not actually turn out to be genes.
Doubletwist took public data from the government's Human Genome Project and crunched it through super computers provided by Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW). The Genome Project, conducted at several laboratories around the world, has mapped 85 percent of the raw data on a strand of DNA.
Genes are made up of four types of nucleotide molecules -- represented by the letters A, T, G, and C -- arranged in a coded sequence. These appear in a 3-billion-letter chain that makes up a strand of DNA. Each strand of DNA is intertwined in a spiral, called a double helix, with another strand that has the same coding. These DNA strands are found in the nucleolus of most cells.
SIFTING GENES FROM JUNK
Doubletwist says it has taken much of the government's work to the next level by locating patterns that represent most genes within the string of letters. The work is complicated by the fact that more than 95 percent of the string is "junk," which apparently is unrelated to the genes but makes it more difficult to locate them. Using sophisticated algorithms, Doubletwist's computers locate introns, which serve as punctuation between the genes and the junk.
Rival Celera Genomics (NYSE: CRA) has been involved in a highly publicized effort to map the genome. The company claims to be ahead of the government effort in locating the letters and mapping many of the genes and may issue a progress report at a genomic conference that starts this Thursday at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island, New York.
But controversy has dogged Celera over the extent to which it will be allowed to patent its gene discoveries. That company has already established multimillion-dollar contracts with large pharmaceutical companies and research firms.
A TWISTED APPROACH
Doubletwist is taking a different approach. "We're not in the business of patenting genes," said CEO John Couch in a Monday conference call.
Privately-held Doubletwist, which has had $66 million in venture financing, aims to license its gene database for $10,000 annually to each research scientist who uses the database at a private company. Academics and public researchers will receive a discounted rate that Doubletwist has not yet disclosed.
Rather than sorting through the chain of 3 billion chemical markers, other companies, such as Incyte Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: INCY), have used an alternative method to identify genes. Incyte also has some multimillion-dollar deals with drug companies and researchers. The company looks for genes in the act of "expressing" themselves when creating proteins. But critics, such as Doubletwist, claim that this strategy will miss important genes that are not expressing themselves in particular circumstances.
Each business model has its own merits and all of them should be put to good use. Sources in the biotech industry say the vast majority of genetic research and the compilation of databases have yet to be started, so none of these companies will have a monopoly on the discovery or licensing of genetic information.
"There are over 35 second-tier bio informatics or software-driven companies in this industry," says Rod Raynovich, a biotech consultant with Raygent Capital. "Doubletwist looks to be one of the top three in this group, but what is the market potential for each?"
redherring.com
The related stories links are pretty good too. |
