Refining
BloodTypes
Current tests define blood type
as A/B/O and Rh positive or negative, but some racial groups share a variety of
more obscure variants, explains Antonio Martinez, CEO of Bilbao-based
Progenika. African and Asians, for instance, might be negative for more rare
antigens. These do not cause a problem when someone needs a single blood
transfusion and receives antigen-mismatched blood; chronic patients, however,
will eventually develop antibodies and suffer allergic reactions if the blood
donor is not an exact match. Most blood banks currently accept the fact that
some patients will live with these antigen-incduced complications. Says
Msrtinez, "We want to avoid this problem by supplying patients with the
perfectly matched bood from the very beginning."
So Progenika
developed a DNA chip to identify whether a patient or blood donor is positive
or negative for these blood types (their names include RHCE,Kell,Kidd, and
dffy). The test identifies 23 single-nucleotidepolymorphisms, or SNPs, and
labels them with fluorescent molecules. The DNA blood-typing chip, alvailable
since 2008,has already been adopted in blood banks across Europe.
For the U,S,
market, progenika identified SNPs related to sicklecell anemia. The Company has
already begun selling in the U.S., and recently signed an agreement with
Novartis to sell Progenika products in the U.S. The company is now utilizing
the same technology to identify markers for cancers, beginning with prostate
cancer.
Source: MIT: Technology Review, February 2012
Main Idea:
Paragraph 1: Current
tests define blood type as A/B/O and Rh positive or negative, but some racial
groups share a variety of more obscure variants.
Paragraph 2: Progenika
developed a DNA chip to identify whether a patient or blood donor is positive
or negative for these blood types
Paragraph 3: The company
is now utilizing the Progenika to identify markers for cancers, beginning with
prostate cancer.
