Arrayit announces collaboration with European Space Agency for mission-critical contribution

Arrayit Corporation (OTCBB: ARYC), a proprietary life sciences technology leader, announces a collaboration with the European Space Agency.

Since 1877, when the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli first observed the Canals, people have wondered whether there is life on Mars. Today, the European Space Agency's ExoMars Mission Aurora Program is using Arrayit Technology to create the Life Marker Chip (LMC) to search for evidence of past and present life on Mars. The technology will examine Martian soil samples from the surface and up to 2 meters below the surface where organic molecules may be better preserved.

The LMC is an antibody microarray based instrument which aims to detect a number of specific targets which may be present in the sample, and is the only instrument which can specifically identify large organic molecules. The microarray is printed on to thin film optical waveguides by the Arrayit SpotBot® microarray printer. Arrayit was determined to be the only viable alternative after a study of all microarray manufacturing equipment. The ExoMars mission is currently planned for launch in 2011 and landing in 2013.

"We are pleased to be chosen for this mission-critical contribution," said Rene Schena, CEO of Arrayit. "This demonstrates the versatility and durability of our microarray approach to identifying organics at the molecular level."

Back home on planet Earth, Arrayit's microarray technology is being employed in the discovery of the reactions within cells that lead to specific diseases. This revolution in healthcare will, in turn, lead to rapid diagnostics and early detection of cancer and auto-immune disease.