OGT to Develop Microarrays based on Ground Breaking Development Disorder Study

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute has signed a licence agreement with molecular genetics company Oxford Gene Technology to access data from the Deciphering Developmental Disorders study which has successfully identified new areas of the genome as responsible for developmental disorders^{1, 2}. OGT plans to use this ground-breaking information, combined with the latest updates from the International Collaboration for Clinical Genomics (ICCG) consortium, to develop its CytoSure Constitutional v3 range, an advance on OGT’s successful CytoSure ISCA arrays. The range will accurately identify both single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number variation (CNV) for accurate identification of a broader range of genetic syndromes, detecting amplifications and deletions as well as regions of loss of heterozygosity (LOH).

The new range of arrays will incorporate OGT’s class-leading CytoSure Interpret Software, a powerful, easy-to-use package for the analysis of CNV and SNP data. OGT also offers the facility to transfer legacy data generated using other platforms, allowing more insightful analyses.

The DDD study is a collaboration between the UK's National Health Service (NHS), the Wellcome Trust and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute to conduct genome wide screening of over 12,000 individuals with developmental disorders to uncover the underlying genetic aberrations. New technologies such as high-resolution microarrays and exome sequencing were used by the study to identify previously undetected genetic changes in the samples. These newly identified genomic regions are included in OGT’s advanced array design, enabling more powerful analysis.

James Clough, Executive Vice President Commercial at OGT commented, “Working with the renowned Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the ICCG consortium will boost the evolution of our microarray and NGS products. Access to such extensive information and systematically carried out research into developmental disorders will provide OGT with the ability to offer the most advanced array designs available for accurately identifying developmental disorders”.

Dr Matthew Hurles, a scientific leader of the DDD study at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute commented, “The huge breadth of genetic information that this study has uncovered is vital in advancing the identification of developmental disorders. Through better detection, we can hope to further our understanding and support of these disorders.”

For more information about CytoSure Constitutional v3 arrays, please contact products@ogt.com