19-Aug-1999

deCODE genetics Renews License for Cybergenetics Automated Genotyping Technology

deCODE genetics has renewed its annual nonexclusive license for Cybergenetics fully automated TrueAllele(TM) genetic analysis technology. TrueAllele software eliminates the data scoring bottleneck for microsatellite genetic data.

"Conventional manual data editing requires human review of every genotype, causing significant delay, error, expense and risk in high-throughput genotyping," says Dr. Mark Perlin, CEO of Cybergenetics. "Our computer-based TrueAllele technology performs 90% of this data review, and focuses the human review on just the 5%-10% of problematic calls. This automation greatly accelerates genetic discovery."

"We are delighted to renew the license with Cybergenetics for their TrueAllele software package", says Dr. Jeff Gulcher, Vice President of Research and Development for deCODE genetics. "It has allowed us to scale up to become the largest microsatellite genotyping facility in the world, generating almost 2 million genotypes per month. TrueAllele has led to a labor savings in editing of at least 80%, freeing up our scientists to do more creative things with their time."

"We are pleased that deCODE Genetics will continue using our TrueAllele software in their advanced bioinformatics processing," says Dr. Perlin. "Automated data scoring lets their scientists concentrate on high-quality data generation and analysis, enabling more rapid scientific discovery."

TrueAllele performs automated lane tracking and automated allele calling on gel image data from Perkin Elmer/Applied Biosystems and other automated fluorescent DNA sequencers. The software assesses the quality of every genotype it calls. Version 2.1 runs on the UNIX, Macintosh and Windows computer platforms. deCODE genetics runs the TrueAllele software on LINUX and Windows/NT Pentium computers.

Cybergenetics TrueAllele technology is protected by multiple patents. The software is used at SmithKline Beecham and university laboratories for high-throughput genotyping and gene discovery applications.

Cybergenetics (www.cybgen.com) is a bioinformation company based in Pittsburgh, PA that develops unique computational approaches for genetic research. Cybergenetics is committed to providing effective software systems that accelerate and simplify genetic discovery.

Based in Reykjavik, Iceland, deCODE genetics, Inc. (www.decode.is) is a population-based genomics company that conducts research on the genetics of common diseases. The mission of deCODE genetics is to use human genetics and genomics to acquire new knowledge about health and disease. deCODE operates one of the most technologically advanced high-throughput genotyping laboratories in the world.

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