Gentris expands genomic biomarker offering with launch of Affymetrix GeneChip HTA services

Gentris Corporation (www.gentris.com), a global leader in pharmacogenomics and biorepository solutions, announced today that it is expanding its genomic biomarker offering with the launch of Affymetrix GeneChip^(R) Human Transcriptome Array (HTA) services. The GeneChip^(R) HTA is a high resolution microarray for gene expression that is designed to empower next-generation expression profiling studies. The new array goes beyond gene-level expression profiling by providing the coverage and accuracy required to detect all known transcript isoforms produced by a gene.

The human genome contains tens of thousands of genes, which are capable of producing hundreds of thousands of mRNA transcript isoforms. Changes in the production of these transcript isoforms have been implicated in a number of diseases including cancer. The Affymetrix GeneChip^(R) HTA solves a critical need for efficient, high resolution mRNA transcript isoform analysis that does not require intensive bioinformatics and data analytics. The array covers 99% of human genes and 95% of all transcript isoforms produced from those genes. This unparalleled coverage provides deep insight into both coding and non-coding transcripts and provides a unique platform for profiling global gene expression in clinical trial patients.

"We are excited to be one of the first GCLP-compliant and CLIA-certified service providers to offer the Affymetrix GeneChip^(R) HTA to our clients," said Amelia Wall-Warner, President, Gentris Corporation. "This new array provides a unique opportunity to advance translational medicine by cost-effectively providing insight into global gene expression of transcript isoforms in large clinical studies. The application of powerful next generation technologies like the GeneChip^(R) HTA can drive major changes in personalized medicine and patient care."

The GeneChip^(R) HTA generates a vast amount genetic data. In order to make the tremendous amount of data generated useful, Affymetrix provides the Affymetrix® Transcriptome Analysis Console (TAC) Software, which aids in the visualization of data and provides the capability to easily visualize expression changes at the gene and exon level as well as to drill down into alternatively spliced exons. The TAC software allows investigators to obtain biologically meaningful results in days rather than months.

The GeneChip^(R) HTA combined with the simple, yet powerful TAC Software can help advance human disease research and clinical translational medicine by providing the most comprehensive view of the transcriptome offered in a commercial microarray and by supporting analysis solutions that enable researchers to obtain biologically-relevant results quickly without the need for complex bioinformatic analysis.