Silicon Biosystems, Syracuse University Form Forensic Tech Alliance
Forensic & National Security Sciences Institute to Apply DEPArray™ Technology for Complex Biological Evidence Analysis
SAN DIEGO, Calif., Oct. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Silicon Biosystems, Inc. today announced an alliance with Syracuse University's Forensic & National Security Sciences Institute (FNSSI), one of the nation's leading training and research schools that teach professionals how to use specialized instruments and lab tests to analyze evidence from criminal investigations. Under the agreement, the company will provide FNSSI with a DEPArray™ cell identification and isolation system to process complex biological samples for subsequent human DNA analysis.
The partnership marks the company's entrance into the U.S. forensic human ID market, and follows a similar partnership with a forensic case-processing laboratory serving law enforcement organizations in Italy.
The announcement was made at the International Symposium on Human Identification, held October 12-15 in Grapevine, Texas, where company staff scientist Francesa Fontana, Ph.D., presented, "Digital Resolution of Forensic Biological Mixtures Provides Separation of 100% Pure Cells for Each Contributor for Clear-Cut Genetic Analysis."
Human DNA identification can be impeded by the complexity of a biological sample derived from multiple individuals in a crime scene. Dr. Fontana explained how the DEPArray system can reconcile genetic data from different human contributors in a mixed biological sample. With its ability to identify, isolate and recover blood, sperm, and epithelial cells from complex cellular mixtures, the system enables forensic scientists to examine individual cells, and apply other methodologies to characterize DNA from multiple individual contributors.
About Silicon Biosystems
Silicon Biosystems Inc., with its U.S. base in San Diego, Calif., and its European base in Bologna, Italy, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Menarini Group (Florence, Italy). Silicon Biosystems advances healthcare and personalized medicine by creating technologies and products that help uncover the biological complexities of disease at the level of each single cell. Offering the unique ability to control the movement of individual cells in a disposable cartridge, the DEPArray makes it possible to find, sort, and interrogate individual cells in real time for further analysis or culturing. For more information visit http://www.siliconbiosystems.com.
SOURCE Silicon Biosystems, Inc.
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