King’s and Sigma combine to identify genes
22 Jun 2011 by Evoluted New Media
King’s Business has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Sigma Life Science following the development of a test to allow simple, accurate identification and validation of miRNA targets
King’s Business has entered into an exclusive license agreement with Sigma Life Science following the development of a test to allow simple, accurate identification and validation of miRNA targets
Researchers from the Division of Cancer Studies at King’s College London have developed new technology to identify and validate microRNA – miRNA – in research and clinical diagnostics. The technology – which has been patented by King’s Business – will now be co-developed with Sigma Life Science into a kit ready for commercialisation.
“The role of miRNAs in cancer is well established, and several miRNAs clearly function as either oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes, although the target is unknown in the majority of cases,” said Dr Joop Gaken, lead researcher of the project.
“This new test will enable the straightforward identification of target genes that are strongly regulated by a given miRNA, helping to elucidate important gene regulation events in vivo.”
“miRNA research is a growing field, and this test will be an invaluable asset to commercial and academic researcher working with miRNAs,” said Steven Suchyta at Sigma Life Science.
“The exclusive license agreement has allowed Sigma Life Science and King’s College London to work closely together to ensure rapid development of this technology for the benefit of the research community and underlines out commitment to accelerate scientific discovery through innovative technology.”