Illumina Selected by the National Institutes of Health to Participate in the International HapMap Project
Tuesday October 29, 2:16 pm ET
Illumina One of Five Principal U.S. Research Groups Contributing to Project
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2002--Illumina, Inc. (Nasdaq:ILMN - News) announced today that it will play a significant role in the International HapMap Project, a global consortium aimed at creating a detailed map of genetic variation and speeding the discovery of genes related to common disease. The role of Illumina and other principal research groups in the International HapMap Project was outlined today in a news briefing conducted by the International HapMap consortium and follows Illumina's previous announcement regarding this $9 million HapMap-related genotyping award.
Illumina is one of five funded U.S. HapMap Project participants in a $100 million worldwide initiative that includes research groups in Canada, China, Japan, Nigeria and the United Kingdom. Illumina's team, led by Mark Chee, Ph.D. and in collaboration with the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford University, expects to map the common haplotypes in 15% of the human genome as part of the Project.
U.K.-based Sanger Institute and Oxford University will work closely with Illumina, providing expertise particularly in the areas of study design, SNP selection, and data analysis. Earlier this year, Illumina announced that it was conducting jointly with the Sanger Institute a pioneering study to provide a detailed haplotype map of a large chromosomal region. Well underway, the study is leveraging the Institute's extensive SNP collection and Illumina's BeadArray(TM) technology for cost-effective, production-scale genotyping. Results from this collaboration will help guide strategy for the international HapMap Project.
According to Jay Flatley, Illumina President and CEO, "We're honored that the NIH has entrusted such a significant portion of the HapMap Project to Illumina and to our genotyping service team. We believe that BeadArray technology is ideally suited to satisfy the throughput, accuracy, and cost demands of the HapMap Project, and we look forward to working closely with the other participants to create a high-quality and freely accessible HapMap."
Mark Chee, Ph.D., Illumina Research Fellow, will represent Illumina on the HapMap Steering committee and liaise with other Project participants and collaborators to develop and execute HapMap strategy.
When completed, the HapMap will constitute a seminal reference work, aiding researchers in the evaluation of patient disease risks and therapeutic response based on individual genetic patterns.
Haplotypes are sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are linked. They identify human chromosomal DNA regions that are shared between individuals, and in some cases are associated with predispositions to specific diseases. A haplotype map of the human genome will allow more rapid and efficient large-scale genetic association studies aimed at discovering common genetic variants contributing to human disease and differential response to drug treatments. When deployed on an individual basis, HapMap information may lead ultimately to the advent of widespread personalized medicine.
Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN; www.illumina.com) is developing next-generation tools that will permit large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. The Company's proprietary BeadArray(TM) technology provides the throughput, cost effectiveness and flexibility necessary to enable researchers in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries to perform the billions of tests necessary to extract medically valuable information from advances in genomics and proteomics. This information will help pave the way to personalized medicine. |
