Molecular Innovations Receives $200,000 Grant to Develop Gene Expression System

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded a two-year, $200,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase I grant to Molecular Innovations Inc. (Denver). The company will use the funding to develop a system to measure gene expression in small populations of cells within a tumor isolated by laser capture microdissection (LCM)—a project it is working on in collaboration with NCI. Their goal is to develop a system that will generate gene expression information from very focused tissue regions to provide a more complete picture of the patient's prognosis. This system is also capable of archiving the nucleic acid from the cells for extended periods, providing a means to compare the expression patterns of key genes throughout treatment.

Malignant cell populations frequently occupy less than 5% of the tissue volume in a tumor. LCM allows scientists to select this small population of malignant cells. Molecular Innovations will develop a precise method for measuring gene expression localized in the specific tissue cells relevant to tumor pathology. The first gene targets include estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER and PgR), which are important in the clinical management of breast cancer.

Molecular Innovations is a product development company that offers new approaches to nucleic acid testing for the detection of environmental and food contaminants, forensics and paternity identity, human and animal diseases, genetic predisposition to disease, and other applications.

For more information, contact Jack Wheeler, President and CEO, Molecular Innovations Inc., 717 Yosemite Cir., Denver CO 80220, 303-363-2443, jwheeler@mi-mail.com.