Albuquerque, NM – March 2, 2015 STC’s start-up incubator, the Joseph L. Cecchi VentureLab, is home to two new companies commercializing promising technologies. ElectroSeq, headed up by CEO Paul Szauter, is a next-generation DNA sequencing company developing a DNA sequencer consisting of an instrument and a disposable chip that will carry out sequencing by synthesis. The disposable chip carries an array of ion-sensitive field-effect transistors (ISFETs) to detect polymerase extension by detecting protons (hydrogen ions). The company’s goal is an array of 10 billion sensors per chip. This sensor density will allow the sequencing of ten human genomes in a single one-day run at a cost of $100/genome. Early results with a prototype chip with 35,000 sensors have demonstrated detection of polymerase extension from DNA amplified to 5,000 copies, compared to the 800,000 copies required by the instruments sold by the two current industry leaders. ElectroSeq is currently recruiting personnel in chip design and systems integration to design and fabricate a new prototype chip with an array of 100 million sensors. The technology was developed by University of New Mexico professors Dr. Jeremy Edwards from the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology (School of Medicine) and Chemical & Biological Engineering (School of Engineering) and Dr. Payman Zarkesh-Ha from the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (School of Engineering).
Michael Wallace of Michael Wallace and Associates is also working out of the Cecchi VentureLab on a new modeling technology he has developed for predicting water flow levels in streams. Mr. Wallace is a doctoral student in the interdisciplinary Nanoscience & Microsystems program in UNM’s School of Engineering and College of Arts & Sciences.
See Dan Mayfield’s Feb. 27 article, “Three startups to watch,” from Albuquerque Business First, at http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/print-edition/2015/02/27/three-startups-to-watch.html?page=all.
Source: Albuquerque Business First
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Dan Mayfield
mailto:dmayfield@bizjournals.com