Roche NimbleGen Launches 2.1 Million-Probe Arrays For The Detection Of Chromosomal Aberrations And DNA Copy Number Variation

Main Category: Genetics
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry
Article Date: 12 Oct 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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Roche NimbleGen, a company of Roche announced today the launch of comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) arrays and services for the high-resolution mapping of genomic copy-number differences based on the company's new 2.1 million-probe HD2 platform.

Roche NimbleGen's HD2 array platform greatly enhances the capability and resolution of CGH whole-genome analysis by providing a single array format containing 2.1 million long-oligo probes. With this increase in probe density, over five-fold higher than previous single 385,000-probe array designs, NimbleGen CGH HD2 arrays deliver a median probe spacing of 1.1kb genome-wide, providing the highest resolution yet reported, down to 5kb resolution. Additional advances in the new NimbleGen CGH HD2 array designs include improved probe selection within low-copy repeat regions that were previously inaccessible, providing substantially broader coverage of the entirety of complex genomes such as human and murine.

The new NimbleGen CGH HD2 arrays follow on the heals of Roche NimbleGen's recent launch of CGH 4x72K arrays, aimed at improving sample throughput for large-scale research projects in which hundreds or thousands of samples are screened for target sets of genomic loci or disease-associated regions. These new multiplex arrays allow the parallel hybridization of four samples to four separate 72,000 long oligo probe arrays on a single slide, providing a cost-effective, increased throughput option for CGH analysis.

Gerd Maass, CEO of Roche NimbleGen, stated: "The launch of these new CGH array formats greatly expands the options for CGH analysis on the Roche NimbleGen platform for both broad, genome-wide analysis and targeted high resolution for both genomic variant discovery studies and large-scale sample screening."

Roche NimbleGen is a leading innovator, manufacturer, and supplier of a proprietary suite of DNA microarrays, consumables, instruments and services. Roche NimbleGen uniquely produces high-density arrays of long oligo probes that provide greater information content and higher data quality necessary for studying the full diversity of genomic and epigenomic variation. The improved performance is made possible by Roche NimbleGen's proprietary Maskless Array Synthesis (MAS) technology, which uses digital light processing and rapid, high-yield photochemistry to synthesize long oligo, high-density DNA microarrays with extreme flexibility. For more information about Roche NimbleGen, please visit the company's website at http://www.nimblegen.com

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world's biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, and is a market leader in virology. It is also active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammatory and metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. In 2007 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totaled 36.8 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 9.3 billion francs. Roche has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai, and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D in 2007. Worldwide, the Group employs about 80,000 people. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.roche.com.

NIMBLEGEN is a trademark of Roche.

Roche