GeneGo Collaborates with the Netherlands Toxicogenomics

GeneGo, Inc. has announced that they will be collaborating with The Netherlands Toxicogenomics Center (NTC). This 5 year, 25 Million Euro, multi-party program will use toxicogenomics to develop highly predictive ‘omics-based screens, to be used for the in depth evaluation of chemical safety for human health, replacing, reducing or refining animal experiments, and improving the scientific basis of chemical risk assessment.

The NTC will use GeneGo’s MetaCore and MetaDrug systems biology data analysis platform to coordinate, visualize and interpret chemical, metabolomic, proteomic and gene expression data generated by the project members, and to identify the key biological functions and pathways contributing to the adverse effects of xenobiotic exposure.

GeneGo will further contribute by working within the bioinformatics workgroup of the NTC to build predictive models, using GeneGo’s “Functional Descriptor” technology, for the earlier identification of adverse effects in animals from short-term in vivo experiments, or from in vitro experiments using cells in place of animals.

Professor Jos Kleinjans, Director of the NTC said “having GeneGo as a partner in the project, and having access to their leading systems biology data visualization and analysis tools and expertise, will help us to derive the best value from the data we are generating and make progress in the application of an integrated systems toxicology approach to risk assessment.”

Dr. Richard Brennan, Director of Toxicology at GeneGo, said “We are delighted to be a part of this exciting and ambitious project. The tools we have developed at GeneGo are an excellent solution for analyzing the multiple data types that will be generated by the NTC members and for understanding the biological basis of chemically-induced toxicity. The project will help us to further validate and develop our capabilities in predictive systems toxicology.”