Leroy Hood to consult for LabCorp

Systems biology guru Dr Leroy Hood has entered into a strategic consulting relationship with US molecular testing equipment specialist LabCorp.

The collaboration is aimed at developing innovative programs to accelerate the integration of medicine and molecular diagnostics at LabCorp, the company said.

"LabCorp provides a unique opportunity to test the merits of new diagnostic approaches against the reality of the marketplace through the application of systems biology," Hood said in a statement. Unlike traditional biology, which focuses on specific, individual functions of genes, proteins and cells, systems biology seeks a deeper understanding of how the human body operates as a complex system. Cross-disciplinary teams of biologists, chemists, mathematicians, physicists and engineers study an organism's integrated and interacting network of genes, proteins and biochemical reactions, and can use that collective knowledge to more effectively predict, prevent or remedy diseases.

"A key component of LabCorp's future in molecular diagnostics is our ability to anticipate and fulfil medical needs by offering testing that can have a significant impact on patient management," said the company's chief scientist, Myla P Lai-Goldman. "Dr Hood's cutting-edge approach to understanding the complex interactions of the human body will be invaluable in helping us to identify and deliver tests and assay methods that fuel the revolution in genomic medicine."

Hood's achievements include the development of the first automated DNA sequencer and DNA synthesiser. He was a founder of Applied Biosystems, and is founder and president of the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, Washington.