Feb. 11, 2001--Rosetta Inpharmatics (NASDAQ:RSTA - news) today announced the publication of a landmark paper demonstrating Rosetta Genecipher(TM) Genome Annotation Technology, which identifies and validates all the genes in the human genome, discovers previously unknown genes, and helps understand their function. Current attempts to identify genes in the sequence information generated by the Human Genome Project rely on computers, which are only capable of making guesses based on already known information. Rosetta Genecipher technology uses a new and unanticipated application of biological technology to go beyond computer predictions to validate what truly is or is not a gene, and identify the presence of genes in various normal or diseased tissues of the human body. This technology is based on DNA chips or microarrays, coupled with the Company's powerful genomic analysis tools.
``This publication highlights Rosetta Inpharmatics' unique capability to truly bring the genome to life,'' noted Stephen Friend, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Rosetta Inpharmatics. ``Rosetta Genecipher technology will enhance our existing abilities to offer valuable integrated solutions to our pharmaceutical partners by providing an unparalleled view of the human genome.''
The paper ``Experimental Annotation of the Human Genome Using Microarray Technology,'' is being published in this week's historic special human genome issue of Nature. The findings describe how scientists at Rosetta Inpharmatics employed their technology, a combination of ink-jet microarrays and powerful new software, to validate and correct the location and structure of genes originally predicted in the human genome using computational methods. Rosetta Inpharmatics' scientists first tested the feasibility of this approach using human chromosome 22, and later expanded the program to include a comprehensive experimental analysis of the entire human genome.
``Upon completion of the human genome sequence, the next goal of the scientific community is a complete and accurate catalog of all of the genes and their products (sometimes referred to as the ''transcriptome``). These are the most biologically and medically important portions of the genome,'' commented Mark Boguski, M.D., Ph.D., Rosetta Inpharmatics' Senior Vice President of Research and Development and the senior author of the paper. ``For more than a decade, standard gene prediction methods have provided useful, but incomplete and inaccurate evidence for the presence of genes. At Rosetta, we have leveraged our informational genomics expertise to begin to develop a comprehensive and valid catalog of all the genes and their products from the human genome, including genes that may never have been seen before.''
``This is an important study that creates a much-needed experimental approach to the current great genomic challenge: knowing how to read and interpret the wealth of data that the Human Genome Project provides,'' explained Richard Klausner, M.D., Director of the National Cancer Institute. ``The next phase will be turning data into information. The actual identification of the genes that this study begins to address, not by data mining alone, but by linking data mining to direct experimental measurement, is the next Holy Grail of the genome project.''
The speed and flexibility of designing and fabricating FlexJet(TM) DNA microarrays, coupled with Rosetta Inpharmatics' powerful genomic analysis tools, have applications at many stages of the drug discovery pipeline, and may significantly accelerate drug discovery. In addition, Rosetta Genecipher technology can be applied to any organism for which DNA sequence exists, enabling Rosetta Inpharmatics to build upon its rapidly growing base of intellectual property in human as well as other genomes.
The company will be hosting a press conference at Noon EST on February 12, 2001 to discuss the technology. A live web cast of the press conference can be accessed at the Company's web site at www.rii.com. |
