The new microarray tests offered by CGC genetics provide a method of achieving a fast, cost-effective diagnosis of diseases with genetic background, using a unique approach. This breakthrough utilizes clinical features of the disease and its differential diagnosis, to define logical panels to study arranged by groups of signs or symptoms of the diseases. The method of this new approach developed by CGC Genetics includes tests for point mutations described in the genes most commonly involved in the diseases or disorders, using capture nucleotide sequence microarray techniques. CGC genetics microarrays are involved in many areas of medicine.
The current technology involves molecular genetics sequencing techniques as tools to confirm a clinical diagnosis of genetic diseases, by searching for mutations in a specific gene that can explain these pathologies. However, these sequencing techniques have limitations, namely the time needed for completion of the study and the cost of the tests. A genetic diagnosis usually entails a sequential study of different genes, and continues until one diagnosis is reached and as long as all the diagnostic hypotheses are excluded. For each patient a succession of genes must be studied, one at a time (study gene A, if negative go to gene B, if negative go to gene C, and so on). There is also the circumstance that with some cases, several genes could be involved in the same disease. Nonetheless, in such a case, the approach currently used is the sequential analysis, exactly because of the cost of testing. So, the currently available technical approaches are inefficient.
There has been a strong need for a new tool for genetic diagnosis that is solid, consistent, fast, cost-effective, and have valuable and crucial clinical utility; additionally it can be used in many situations where the diagnosis is not well defined, as well as by other physicians besides medical geneticists.
Seeing the need to make a definitive diagnosis in a more time and cost efficient way, CGC genetics has developed this new methodology using custom made microarrays - Arrays CGC - which is now patent pending.
CGC genetics, the first private medical genetics laboratory in Portugal, has facilities in the US and Spain. With a rigorous quality policy and excellent capability for the development of new tests, CGC has, besides its Clinical Department, 5 different laboratories working together (Biotechnology, Molecular Diagnostics, Cytogenetics, Anatomy Pathology and Prenatal Screening). These laboratories offer a large panel of over 1500 genetic tests and process 50,000 analysis/year, mainly in prenatal diagnosis, prenatal screening, oncohematology, preventive medicine, pharmacogenetics and rare diseases.
CGC is a dynamic institution with state of the art equipment and extremely qualified collaborators in all business/working areas. CGC genetics is a provider for more than 150 hospitals worldwide.
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