Fluorescence sensor receives biotech business prize

17 Jun 2002

A biotech company set up to commercialize a fluorescence-based system to identify foods, pharmaceuticals and other day-to-day items containing cancer agents has won a prize from the UK's BBSRC funding council this week.

Gentronix, a spin-off from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), UK, was one of five prize-winners in the Bioscience Business Plan Competition, a national contest to identify promising business plans for taking research to the market-place.

Gentronix's 'Genotoxicity Reporter System' is based on baker's yeast that has been genetically modified with genes from the jellyfish Aequoria victoria. These genes produce a green fluorescent protein when DNA damage-repair systems are activated, indicating exposure to a genotoxic (DNA damaging) agent. Fluorescence is triggered by blue laser light and the brightness of the fluorescence reveals the extent of the DNA damage and hence the presence of the cancer-causing agents.

Gentronix was formed in July 1999 with the backing of UMIST Ventures Ltd and private investors. The company hopes that its products and services will become the genotoxicity-testing standard of the future. The company plans to move from instrument prototypes to production and sales in early 2001 and is currently seeking further sources of investment. "Our most obvious market is in the unregulated phase of pharmaceutical screening and we have started to talk in detail with some key players about how to meet their particular requirements in terms of format etc," says Richard Walmsley of Gentronix.

SH