India prepares for genomics technology
Agilent Technologies is planning to introduce its DNA microarray-based genomics solutions into India\'s growing life sciences market, addressing demand, fueled by the Indian government\'s draft national biotechnology policy, from government-funded research institutions and pharmaceutical companies.
Agilent Technologies is planning to introduce its DNA microarray-based genomics solutions into India's growing life sciences market, addressing demand, fueled by the Indian government's draft national biotechnology policy, from government-funded research institutions and pharmaceutical companies.
The strategy focuses on using biotechnology as a tool to improve quality of life and aims to position India as a worldwide hub for biotechnology research. A government-supported infrastructure is expected to stimulate research in areas such as genomics, stem cells, molecular medicine, metabolic engineering and cell biology.
Agilent's initial plans focus on introducing its DNA microarray-based genomics solutions, which improve the productivity of gene-expression and genomics research. Also known as DNA chips or biochips, microarrays are small pieces of glass dotted with thousands of strands of DNA, each of which corresponds to a specific gene in the genome. In a single experiment, microarrays can measure genome-wide differences between diseased and healthy cells.
The company currently sells technologies for the chemical, environmental and pharmaceutical manufacturing markets in India, and expects to expand its presence into industries such as medical research, drug discovery and agro-biotech.
Key applications include:
• Gene expression -- scanning for differences in gene expression or gene activity between healthy and diseased cells.
• Toxicogenomics -- identifying the changes in gene activity that occur in response to exposure to a toxin or drug.
• Comparative genomic hybridization -- studying the chromosomal changes that frequently occur in cancer cells, including the loss or duplication of regions of chromosomal DNA.
• Agro-biotech -- identifying genes in plants that correspond to survival traits that could improve crop development.
'Agilent's life sciences and chemical analysis business had double-digit growth in India last year, driven by the country's booming biotechnology, agriculture, information technology and pharmaceuticals industries, and we expect this growth to continue as we launch our industry-leading solutions for the life sciences sector into areas such as genomics and proteomics research,' said Sanjeev Dhar, country manager for the LSCA business in India.
Agilent will participate in Bangalore Bio, India's largest biotechnology event, from 22-24 April.