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Applied Biosystems and the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center to Host New Jersey Stem Cell Technology Symposium

Posted on: Monday, 24 September 2007, 09:00 CDT

Applied Biosystems (NYSE:ABI), an Applera Corporation business, and the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center today announced that they will hold the first New Jersey Stem Cell Technology Symposium this week. The purpose of the symposium is to bring together scientists working on stem cell research in both academia and industry to discuss best practices and drive standardization to advance science and enable greater collaboration.

Stem cells offer great potential to develop new therapies for cancer, diabetes, spinal cord injury, and degenerative diseases of the nervous system, such as Parkinson's disease. Because it is a relatively new field, many of the researchers studying stem cells, such as cell biologists and embryologists, may be new to the molecular biology methods required to help them most effectively study complex biological processes in stem cells.

To address this need, the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center enlisted the help of Applied Biosystems to put together a series of programs, including this week's symposium, to train the diverse set of scientists in the application of molecular methods, such as gene expression analysis, gene knockdown, and genotyping. Additionally, researchers will share recent discoveries from the application of these methods and discuss means to drive standardization to achieve more reproducible results, greater study replication, and data sharing.

Topics that will be addressed at the symposium include characterization of human stem cells with genomic techniques, monitoring stem cell differentiation by microRNAs and gene expression analysis, exploring gene regulation by DNA methylation profiling, and pathogen detection for safety and efficacy of stem cell lines.

"With the strong support of our state government for this work, New Jersey is on the cutting edge of stem cell research, yet many of our researchers have limited experience with the technological tools available to study these molecules," said Ronald P. Hart, Ph.D., member of the of the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center. "This is the first initiative of its kind where we are aiming to bring together scientists from both academia and industry to share the latest technological advances in stem cell research. Given its leadership role in gene expression and genomic technologies and years of expertise, Applied Biosystems was a natural partner for us in this effort."

This week's technology symposium will feature lectures and scientific posters from leading scientists at Rutgers University, Celgene Cellular Therapeutics, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Merck, and others. Scientists from Applied Biosystems and its Ambion business will discuss molecular applications in stem cell biology, the use of microRNA biomarkers for monitoring embryonic stem cell identity and differentiation, and screening tools and methodologies to ensure the purity and safety of stem cells.

As a global leader in life science technologies, Applied Biosystems has been working with the scientific community to develop new applications and technologies to enable stem cell identification and characterization, pathogen screening, expression profiling, and functional analysis.

"Stem cell research is a strategic focus for our customers and Applied Biosystems because it has the potential to revolutionize the practice of medicine and offer treatments for devastating diseases for which there currently are no available cures," said Peter Dansky, president for Applied Biosystems' molecular and cell biology consumables division. "We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the scientific community on events like this symposium to help our customers advance their research and drive knowledge sharing and standardization in this emerging field of study."

Applied Biosystems previously collaborated with the Rutgers Stem Cell Research Center to develop a training course for scientists interested in learning more about the core molecular biology technologies that can be applied to stem cell research. The first course was conducted earlier this year, with a second course taking place at the Stem Cell Research Center in Piscataway, N.J. October 8-12.

The New Jersey Stem Cell Symposium will take place on Wednesday, September 26 from 9 a.m. -- 4 p.m. at the Bridgewater Marriott, in Bridgewater, N.J. More information about this week's symposium and the upcoming training course is available at http://scrc.rutgers.edu/

For more information about Applied Biosystems' technologies for stem cell research visit: www.appliedbiosystems.com/stemcells.

About Applera Corporation and Applied Biosystems

Applera Corporation consists of two operating groups. The Applied Biosystems Group serves the life science industry and research community by developing and marketing instrument-based systems, consumables, software, and services. Its customers use these tools to analyze nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), small molecules, and proteins to make scientific discoveries and develop new pharmaceuticals. The Applied Biosystems' products also serve the needs of some markets outside of life science research, which we refer to as "applied markets." These include the fields of human identity testing (forensic and paternity testing); biosecurity, which refers to products needed in response to the threat of biological terrorism and other malicious, accidental, and natural biological dangers; and quality and safety testing, such as testing required for food and pharmaceutical manufacturing. Applied Biosystems is headquartered in Foster City, CA, and reported sales of approximately $2.1 billion during fiscal 2007. The Celera Group is primarily a molecular diagnostics business that is using proprietary genomics and proteomics discovery platforms to identify and validate novel diagnostic markers, and is developing diagnostic products based on these markers as well as other known markers. Celera maintains a strategic alliance with Abbott for the development and commercialization of molecular, or nucleic acid-based, diagnostic products, and it is also developing new diagnostic products outside of this alliance. Through its genomics and proteomics research efforts, Celera is also discovering and validating therapeutic targets, and it is seeking strategic partnerships to develop therapeutic products based on these discovered targets. Information about Applera Corporation, including reports and other information filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, is available at http://www.applera.com, or by telephoning 800.762.6923. Information about Applied Biosystems is available at http://www.appliedbiosystems.com.

Applied Biosystems Forward Looking Statements

All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Applera does not undertake any duty to update this information, including any forward-looking statements, unless required by law.

For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures. Applera, Applied Biosystems, and AB (Design) are registered trademarks of Applera Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or certain other countries.

Copyright © 2007. Applera Corporation. All rights reserved.

Source: Business Wire

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