Agilent Technologies introduces microarray for genomic copy number variations and disease

Agilent Technologies has unveiled a new microarray system for investigating associations between disease and genomic copy number variations (CNVs).

The Human CNV Association 2x150K is based on a Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium (WTCCC) that is currently conducting a study of CNVs and their link to disorders.

Enriched for around 11,000 CNV locations in the genome, the tool is validated and cost-effective, said Agilent Technologies senior marketing director of genomics Chris Grimley.

Today’s announcement of the commercial availability of the system results from an August 2008 request from the WTCCC to Agilent for microarrays.

"We have used the Agilent 2x105K array for characterising common structural variants in several different disease cohorts over the last several months," said the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute’s Matthew Hurles.

Each array contains 105,000 probes.

Last week, Agilent Technologies said it had launched a new website containing information about collaborations and teaching tools for use by scientists and professionals in the sector.