Geneart AG, a market leader for gene synthesis and specialist in synthetic biology, won a major contract from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (WTSI), UK.

As per the terms and conditions of the agreement, Geneart will synthesize up to 600 tailor-made genes for the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute's research programme. The genes will be used to identify mechanisms involved in defined genetic and infectious disease. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We are very pleased that Geneart was selected for this project by the WTSI during a tendering process. This emphasizes yet again our leading position in the market for gene synthesis. Worldwide largest capacities and our broad service portfolio allow us to meet specific customer requirements, even for large-scale contracts, in the shortest periods of time", said Dr Ralf Wagner, chief executive officer, Geneart AG.

The programme of research at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute uses large-scale technologies to understand the role of genes in health and disease and create lasting resources for biomedical research. By developing high throughput technologies to detect networks of extracellular protein interactions, the institute has identified new signalling pathways important for vertebrate development.

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is now expanding the research programme to identify novel human extracellular receptor-ligand interactions involved in genetic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and also infectious diseases.

This research programme will involve screening for interactions within protein libraries that constitute the cell surface receptor repertoire of differentiated human blood cells, and also some pathogens. The protein libraries will also be used to determine the functional consequences of the identified interactions in cell-based assays.