Light Biology was formed in the late 1990s, to commercialize technology developed by Dr. Harold "Skip" Garner, professor of biochemistry and internal medicine at UT Southwestern. Using methods similar to those used for manufacturing semiconductors, Dr. Garner invented a new way to make DNA microarrays, which are used in scientific research to analyze the structure and function of genes at the molecular level.
The system, called Digital Optical Chemistry (DOC), uses Texas Instruments Digital Light Processing (TM)technology instead of traditional film processing to manufacture specialized DNA microarrays more quickly and cost effectively than previously possible. With the acquisition, NimbleGen will now own all of Light Biology's assets and patent rights to the DOC technology.
"We're delighted to see this breakthrough technology partnered with NimbleGen. This deal represents the successful collaboration among several parties," said Dr. Dennis Stone, vice president for technology development at UT Southwestern.
Dr. Garner said, "These microarrays can monitor levels of every gene of an organism that is expressed in a disease. And the technology can make the microarrays quicker and more cost-effective, furthering biomedical research. We have a strong collection of ways in which this technology can be applied to cutting-edge scientific research."
The enormous size of the human genome necessitates this careful target selection to tune experiments to address specific questions, Dr. Garner added. A need has emerged to have rapidly customizable microarrays, making the DOC technology a valuable research tool.
Dr. Garner's DOC techn
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Contact: Steve OBrien
Stephen.obrien@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-3404
UT Southwestern Medical Center
8-Mar-2004