GTG expands testing services

Genetic Technologies (ASX: GTG) has expanded the range of testing services it can offer through the acquisition of animal testing service Genetic Science Services (GSS).

The company says the move means it now has an armoury of genetic testing applications in animals, including progeny testing in horses, dogs, cattle and deer; sexing, particularly in birds; and animal disease identification and susceptibility testing in a range of animals including exotic animals and zoo animals.

GSS was formerly owned by animal scientist Dr George Sofranidis, who has joined GTG to manage the expansion of the service at GTG.

"We have been interested in doing this for some time," said GTG executive chairman Dr Mervyn Jacobson. The service joins other testing services at GTG including its paternity testing service, and AgGenomics, which provides plant genetics and genomics services.

"At the end of the day, once you have the DNA you can do pretty similar things with it," Jacobson said.

ImmunAid project

GTG has also reported that the ImmunAid program, which is developing a strategy for assisting the immune system in patients with HIV infection, is continuing to progress.

The company began human monitoring trials in December to determine whether the observations made in mouse models of HIV could be applied to human patients, and Jacobson said the latest report from the program's Technical Review Committee has provided "tantalising" results and has recommended that the human monitoring studies, which began in December, be expanded.

The ImmunAid program is based around the idea that the progression of the immunological response to infection with HIV may provide "windows of opportunity" for treating patients that supports the immune system. The current human monitoring study is monitoring various parameters in HIV infected patients including viral load and blood chemistry, said Jacobson.

"It's early days in our ImmunAid program, but we have made the transition from mouse studies to human monitoring. The ultimate would be to combine [our strategy] with some form of intervention," he said.