Life Technologies Announces Visionary Winners of the Ion Torrent PGM Grants Program in Europe

CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (Nasdaq: LIFE), today announced Dr. Angel Carracedo and Dr. Mark Pallen as the winners of the European Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM™) Sequencer Grants Program.  

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Each scientist will receive an Ion PGM and because of the ubiquitous nature of the Ion Torrent sequencing technology, these scientists will be able to give their labs sequencing capabilities that up to now were only prevalent in large, core sequencing centers.

In addition, Ion Torrent has awarded three runners-up an Ion PGM sequencer to support their exceptional proposals.  This award will enable the visionary scientists to conduct further research at an accelerated rate.

"In all of the proposals we saw innovative, often potentially breakthrough applications that were on the shelf simply because there was not a technology that had the speed, throughput, affordability and read length to make them practical," said Dr. Jonathan M. Rothberg, Founder and President of Ion Torrent.  "Ion Torrent is the only sequencing technology that offers the ability to do all your 'next-gen' research applications in your own lab, while enabling a new generation of research applications that need same day results."

Award Winners

Dr. Carracedo, Director of the Galician Foundation of Genomic Medicine in Spain, was awarded the grant for his proposal to create a fast and affordable method for genetic screening of research samples from newborns. 

"Up to now newborn genetic screening efforts have been limited by high cost, slow run times and limited throughput of existing sequencing technology," said Carracedo.  "Our research will be focused on developing a newborn screening based on Ion amplicon sequencing for Cistic fibrosis, Wilson disease, Hurles-Scheie disease and other congenital metabolic diseases."

Dr. Pallen, Professor of Microbial Genomics at the University of Birmingham, was awarded the grant for his proposal to identify, profile and type the healthcare-associated bacterial pathogens in hospital environments,– a huge and unmet problem that is now made solvable by the Ion PGM.

"The excessive run times and high costs of previous sequencing methods have severely limited the real-time use of sequencing in environmental microbiology settings," said Pallen.  "The Ion PGM is already an order of magnitude cheaper and quicker with a performance enabled by years of compounded Moore's law.  The ability to deliver cheap same-day results is essential to enable timely interventions in outbreak management."

Honorary Grant Winners Furthering Environmental and Ecological Research

Dr. Thomas Curtis, Professor of Environmental Engineering at Newcastle University, received an honorary grant for his proposal to routinely characterize the biology of waste-water treatment.

Dr. Howard Martin, Clinical Scientist, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and team, received a grant for their proposal to develop DNA sequence-based human leukocyte antigen (HLA) research.  

Dr. Ulf Landegren, Professor of Molecular Medicine for the Department of Genetics and Pathology at the Uppsala University, received a grant for his research proposal to run a multiplex proximity ligation assay (MultiPLAy) to measure protein biomarkers in the blood by antibody-mediated reverse translation of proteins to DNA sequences.

The Ion PGM Sequencer Grant Program was designed to foster the development of new research applications for DNA sequencing that leverage the instrument's unprecedented speed, scalability and low cost.  These grants were also given in honor of the pioneering work of Drs. James Watson and Gordon Moore, which inspired the creation of the Ion Torrent semiconductor sequencing technology.  The judges for the competition were Drs. Rothberg, Mathias Uhlen, George Church and Svante Paabo.

For more information about the grant winners visit: http://www.iontorrent.com/forum/

About Life Technologies Next-Generation Sequencing

Life Technologies is the world's leading provider of sequencing technologies, offering the industry's gold standard capillary electrophoresis technology with the 3500 Series Genetic Analyzers, next-generation sequencing technology with the SOLiD System, and the semiconductor-based sequencing technology with the recently launched Ion Torrent PGM.

About Life Technologies

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific and medical advancements that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance the fields of discovery and translational research, molecular medicine, stem cell-based therapies, food safety and animal health, and 21st century forensics. The company manufactures both molecular diagnostic and research use only products. Life Technologies' industry-leading brands are found in nearly every life sciences lab in the world and include innovative instrument systems under the Applied Biosystems and Ion Torrent names, as well as, the broadest range of reagents with its Invitrogen, Gibco, Ambion, Molecular Probes and Taqman products. Life Technologies had sales of $3.6 billion in 2010, has a workforce of approximately 11,000 people, has a presence in approximately 160 countries, and possesses one of the largest intellectual property estates in the life sciences industry, with approximately 3,900 patents and exclusive licenses. For more information on how we are making a difference, please visit our website: http://www.lifetechnologies.com.  Follow Life Technologies on Twitter @LIFECorporation and on Facebook.

Research Use Only

The Ion PGM Sequencer, 3500 Series Genetic Analyzers and SOLiD System are for research use only, and are not intended for animal or human therapeutic or diagnostic use.  

Life Technologies' Safe Harbor Statement

This press release includes forward-looking statements about Life Technologies' anticipated results that involve risks and uncertainties. Some of the information contained in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements as to industry trends and Life Technologies' plans, objectives, expectations and strategy for its business, contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. When used, the words "believe," "plan," "intend," "anticipate," "target," "estimate," "expect" and the like, and/or future tense or conditional constructions ("will," "may," "could," "should," etc.), or similar expressions, identify certain of these forward-looking statements. Important factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are detailed in filings made by Life Technologies with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Life Technologies undertakes no obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

SOURCE Life Technologies Corporation