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CLC bio tests Next Generation Sequencing solution on African tuberculosis data

18 Feb 2008 - CLC bio has joined forces with the first center for High Throughput DNA Sequencing in Africa, Inqaba Biotechnical Industries (Pty) Ltd., in an effort to help fight tuberculosis on the African continent. Together CLC bio and inqaba biotec will assemble and analyze data from multiple tuberculosis strains.
 
Dr. Oliver Preisig, Executive Director at Inqaba Biotechnical Industries, states, "The consortium's goal is to find the genetic differences between different strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. We target our genome sequencing on XDR (Extreme Drug Resistant) and MDR (Multi Drug Resistant) strains of the bacterium. Having assembled the genomes of these strains we can find the strains' specific markers and develop a PCR test that could bring much faster diagnosis for proper treatment. This means we have an urgent need for whole genome sequencing, and look forward to CLC bio's upcoming workbench, which will provide an intuitive and fast solution."
 
The South African Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome sequencing project is funded by BioPAD, a biotechnology investment trust funded by the Department of Science and Technology of South Africa and includes as consortium members the Chris Hani Baragwanath business unit of the National Health Laboratory Services, the Respiratory and Meningeal Pathogens Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand and inqaba biotec.