LabCorp to use Affymetrix Technology for Molecular Cytogenetic Service Offering

Affymetrix Inc. has that its GeneChip® technology will form the foundation of the new molecular cytogenetic service offering by Laboratory Corporation of America® Holdings (LabCorp®). LabCorp is making the service available to customers across the United States.

The new LabCorp cytogenetic service will correlate deletions, gains and other chromosomal rearrangements with congenital diseases such as autism, mental retardation and developmental delay in children.

The Affymetrix genotyping technology was designed to measure genotype, copy number changes and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) information across the entire genome, enabling customers to discover more causative aberrations than with karyotype or FISH technologies.

“This new testing based on the Affymetrix platform will offer unparalleled resolution for the detection of the etiology of mental retardation, developmental delay, autism and other clinically significant changes and underscores LabCorp’s commitment to providing physicians and patients with the highest-quality technology advances to meet their clinical needs,” said Myla Lai-Goldman, M.D., executive vice president, chief scientific officer and medical director of LabCorp.

“Affymetrix is pleased to partner with LabCorp to demonstrate how our GeneChip technology can improve cytogenetic analysis,” said Ramsey Hashem, senior vice president of global commercial operations at Affymetrix.

“We believe the Affymetrix platform is uniquely positioned to become the gold-standard tool in cytogenetic analysis because it provides a higher-resolution view of the entire genome, enabling customers to examine genetic variation frequently associated with congenital diseases.”