Novel technology expected to greatly advance the burgeoning field of dynamic genomics
Paris, France and Cambridge, UK – 18th March 2021 :–
Depixus® , a biotechnology company developing a unique platform technology for the fast, accurate, and inexpensive extraction of multiomic information from DNA, RNA, and protein, today announces the publication of a scientific paper in the peer-reviewed journal Communications Biology, part of Nature Research journals. The paper, entitled ‘Detection of genetic variation and base modifications at base-pair resolution on both DNA and RNA’, can be freely downloaded from here.
Dr. Gordon Hamilton, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Depixus®, said:
“Our novel technology, known as MAGNA™, can decode many new layers of dynamic genetic information held within DNA, RNA, and proteins. These information layers – that can be collectively described as the ‘dynamic genome’ – include the multitude of base modifications that pattern both DNA and RNA, as well as the many ways in which these nucleic acids can be constructed, folded, and packaged within cells. In this paper, we are excited to be publishing data that demonstrates how our MAGNA™ platform can sequence a wide range of base modifications on long molecules of both DNA and RNA with very high accuracy and without need for sample amplification. We also provide an example of how the technology, when applied to analysis of genetic disease from DNA coming from a female carrier of Fragile X Syndrome, can reveal the extent of the genetic and epigenetic perturbations that are associated with disease severity.
“Progress in decoding the dynamic genome is currently hampered by the lack of robust tools. The MAGNA™ platform was purpose-designed to resolve this problem and is being developed to allow researchers to open up new areas of genetic science, in particular in the burgeoning fields of epigenomics and epitranscriptomics. The data provided by MAGNA™ will help in better understanding the genomics of biological systems and will provide new insights into the pathogenesis of disease. The current coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the need for a much deeper understanding of the role that RNA base modifications play in virus-host interactions. The analysis of base modification patterning on DNA is already transforming the field of liquid-biopsy for early cancer detection.
Epigenetics refers to a “heritable” phenomenon in which phenotype changes are driven by processes that are independent of DNA sequence. DNA base modifications play central roles in such epigenetic processes. Epitranscriptomics, a new but fast- growing field, is the study of the enormous number of chemical modifications to RNA, and the proteins that write, erase, and read these modifications. In recent years, reversible modifications on nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) have been shown to play essential roles in many biological processes in health and disease.
Depixus® is developing its MAGNA™ technology for future commercial launch. The company is based in Paris, France and Cambridge, UK, and over 2021 will be actively recruiting top talent to join its team.