GTG hires US scientist to lead cell sorting project

A Genetic Technologies (GTG) cell sorting program has been given a boost with the appointment of US scientist Dr Ralph Bohmer, an expert in using flow cytometry for differentiating cells, to lead the project.

The appointment of Bohmer, formerly at Tufts Medical School, combined with the imminent delivery of a state-of-the-art Becton Dickinson flow cytometer, bring all of the pieces needed for the program together, said GTG chairman Dr Mervyn Jacobson.

The RareCellect program aims to use advanced cell sorting techniques to isolate foetal cells from maternal blood. Foetal cells appear in maternal blood after about the eighth week of pregnancy, at a frequency of around one in a million. GTG plans to develop a suite of markers that can be used to identify and isolate the foetal cells, which can then be tested for a variety of genetic conditions, as amniocentesis samples currently are tested.

"We have done a fair amount of theory work, but have been waiting for a suitable flow cytometer," said Jacobson.

The RareCellect project is based on research done by GTG co-founder Dr Malcolm Simons and GeneType, a subsidiary of the company. The company has been granted broad patents for the technology, covering the use of HLA markers and other genetic markers for separating the two populations of cells.

According to Jacobson, the potential of the technology is enormous. Ultimately, the company would like to see the test become a standard pre-natal screen.

"Once you have the cells, you can subject them to all sorts of tests," he said. "It could even have therapeutic applications in the long term."

Isolated cells could be analysed for chromosomal abnormalities, and screened for susceptibility genes or known mutations, said Jacobson.

GTG plans to review the progress of the project in six months.