BlueGnome Announces First Sales of CytoChip in the United States

Following the recent launch of the CytoChip in the United States BlueGnome has announced that several laboratories have already switched to the platform; a high resolution BAC microarray for the investigation of chromosomal abnormalities.

With an overall resolution of 0.5Mb, and a focus on genomic regions known to be associated with genetic disorders, the CytoChip has proved to be more informative than similar systems currently available in the United States, according to BlueGnome.

As Dr. Karen Swisshelm, Director of the Colorado Genetics Laboratory in Denver explained, “When testing a 17p duplication case our existing commercial array detected only 2 non-consecutive clones whereas the CytoChip showed 22 clones, in the same region, as being duplicated. This increase in probe density and enhanced performance greatly improves both the confidence and ease of interpretation of the results.”

Customer service has also proved important to laboratories moving forward with arrayCGH. Dr Maxine Sutcliffe, Director, Cytogenetics & Molecular Cytogenetics and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at University of South Florida, Tampa, FL confirmed, “BlueGnome is clearly concerned about quality control issues and simplifying the protocols to be as cost effective as possible. Combined with a genuine desire to have an excellent product with excellent support this makes me feel very comfortable about switching platforms.”

Nick Haan, CEO of BlueGnome, speaking at this week’s American Society of Human Genetics meeting in San Diego explained, “We have encountered many laboratories that are keen to bring in house the processing of DNA samples that are currently sent out for analysis. For these people the complete solution; a high resolution BAC array, quality controlled consumables and labelled FISH probes backed by excellent technical support, enables them to significantly reduce their costs while providing a more responsive service.”