GENEART Receives Major Contract from Max Planck Institute for
Molecular Genetics within the BMBF Joined Project "IG Mutanom"
- Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics awards GENEART a major
contract for the production of genes and gene variants
- Expected order volume is approximately EUR 300,000
- The genes delivered will be used within the Mutanom Project
- Goal of the Mutanom Project is to research the effects of mutations
in the genotype and their relevance for genetic diseases
Regensburg, June 4, 2009 - GENEART AG, global leader in Gene
Synthesis and specialist in the field of Synthetic Biology, received
a major order from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Molecular
Genetics. GENEART will produce the required genes and gene variants
for the project "Mutanom - Systems Biology of Genetic Diseases"
funded by the BMBF (Federal Ministry of Education and Research) over
the next two years. The expected order volume will be around EUR
300,000.
Goal of the Mutanom project, which includes the Max Planck Institute
for Molecular Genetics, the German Cancer Research Center and the Max
Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine as well as partners with
expertise in the area of clinical development, is to research the
effects of variations (mutations) in the human genotype (genome). For
their research the project partners require a large number of gene
variants, which will be rationally designed and then produced by
GENEART. Initially, project research will concentrate on those
mutations, which are known to be relevant to certain diseases, i.e.
cancer. The knowledge gained is then expected to be used directly for
the development of innovative diagnostic and treatment strategies.
The Mutanom Project is an integrated network of the medical genome
research, which is financed by the National Genome Research Network.
"We are pleased that the MPI for Molecular Genetics selected GENEART
for this project. Gene synthesis allows our customers simple and
flexible access to any required gene sequence. The knowledge gained
from sequencing projects and subsequent analyses using bioinformatics
can thus be verified in the lab with only short time lags. GENEART
technology thus provides researchers the opportunity to reach goals
faster and more cost efficient compared to traditional approaches of
molecular biology", said Prof. Dr. Ralf Wagner, CEO and CSO of
GENEART AG.
Additional information on the Mutanom Project can be found under
www.mutanom.org.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Dr. Karoline Stürmer
GENEART AG
Josef-Engert-Str. 11
93053 Regensburg
Germany
Phone: +49-(0)941-942 76-417
Fax: +49-(0)941-942 76-711
ir@geneart.com
www.geneart.com
Frank Ostermair
Better Orange IR & HV AG
Haidelweg 48
81241 Munich
Germany
Phone: +49-(0)89-8896906-10
Fax: +49-(0)89-8896906-66
info@better-orange.de
www.better-orange.de
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About GENEART AG:
In 2000, GENEART entered the gene synthesis market and has since
become the global market leader. Today, the company is one of the
leading specialists in the Synthetic Biology field. Experts at
GENEART provide key technologies for the development and production
of new therapeutics and vaccines. Customers also take advantage of
GENEART services to customize enzyme attributes, such as the
attributes of enzymes used as detergent additives, and to construct
bacteria, which produce complex biopolymers or break down polymers,
such as synthetics, petroleum components, etc. Our production and
service spectrum spans a wide range, from the production of synthetic
genes according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000, to the creation of gene
libraries in the combinatorial biology, to the development and
production of DNA-based biologically active substances. GENEART AG in
Regensburg (Germany) and the subsidiaries GENEART Inc. in Toronto
(Canada) and GENEART Inc. in San Francisco (USA) employ more than 190
people. GENEART is listed on the German Stock Exchange.
About Mutanom Projekt:
Funded through the NGFN Plus Research initiative. The IG Mutanom aims
to characterise the functional consequences of somatic mutations and
to develop models that predict the outcome of such genetic
alterations on a molecular pathway level, cellular and organism
level. From very early on in this project our results will be
translated into the clinical and Public Health sector with the goal
to define new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. At the beginning
of the project our effort will concentrate on characterising "driver"
mutations (i.e. mutations that occur in cancer due to selective
pressure) that already have been selected from databases and from the
scientific literature, which will be characterised in close
collaboration among the different subprojects. The consortium has
complementary expertises in the fields of proteomics (MPIMG, DKFZ,
MDC) functional genomics (MPIMG, DKFZ) modelling (MPIMG). Clinical
partners and companies (e.g. Cellzome) are part of the project and
will carry out mass spectrometry analysis, expression profiling,
provide tissue samples or clones. Academic experts (SOCMED) will
ensure from the early beginning of the project that the translational
aspects of the project will be fully exploited. The aims and overall
structure of the project are described under www.mutanom.org.
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