Sequenom, Inc. announced that the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has implemented the MassARRAY system using its comparative sequencing application and its quantitative genotyping application to conduct automated high throughput mutation detection in microbial genomes and mixed microbial populations.

A paper titled "Comparative Genome Sequencing of Escherichia coli Allows Observation of Bacterial Evolution on a Laboratory Timescale" has been published on the journal Nature Genetics' web site and will be included in the November 2006 print issue. This paper provides the first report on the possibilities of a comprehensive genetical and biochemical analysis of experimentally evolved microorganisms.

"Our research team is developing models for the study of evolutionary phenomena, which can be used as tools for metabolic engineering and have the potential to provide a mechanistic basis of pathogenesis. We utilized the high-throughput capabilities of the MassARRAY system to collect genotypic datasets in E. coli in the past and identified the platform as accurate to monitor mutations in evolving populations," said Bernhard Palsson, Ph.D., Professor of Bioengineering at UCSD.

"We are proud that the analytical sensitivity of Sequenom's technology has demonstrated the feasibility of monitoring bacterial evolution," stated Charles Cantor, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Sequenom, Inc. "This is an essential step in the process of understanding the emergence of new pathogens and the acquisition of antibiotic resistance factors."