CHICAGO, Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrated Genomics and Mascoma (Cambridge, Massachusetts) have entered into a contract to analyze the genome of a microbe important to breaking down cellulosic biomass for conversion into ethanol. Integrated Genomics will use their proprietary ERGO(TM) bioinformatics software to annotate the Mascoma genome and provide a reconstruction of the genome into metabolic pathways. Mascoma has also licensed the ERGO Bioinformatics Suite. Scientists at Mascoma will use the ERGO system to characterize and optimize the microbial cellulose bioprocessing.
Optimized for analysis of microorganisms, ERGO integrates biological data from genomics, biochemistry, gene expression studies, genetics and literature. Reaching beyond conventional systems for functional analysis of DNA sequences, Integrated Genomics’ platform combines pattern-based analysis with comparative genomics and enables visualization of genes in the contexts of regulation, gene expression data, phylogeny, chromosomal neighborhoods and identification of natural gene fusions. ERGO contains more than 1032 genomes at various stages of completion, as well as the largest available collection of networked cellular pathways.
Mascoma and Integrated Genomics expect the current project to run through 2006.
About Integrated Genomics
Integrated Genomics ( http://www.integratedgenomics.com ) is a provider of bioinformatics products and services for the life science industry, with a recent focus on the use of in silico strategies for comparative genomics. The company’s expertise in microbial genomics includes genome sequencing, genome analysis and custom bioinformatics. Integrated Genomics has developed and distributed ERGO, the most advanced and comprehensive bioinformatics suite for microbial genomics on the market. ERGO contains the largest available integration of microbial genome data, including genome-derived metabolic reconstructions and representing the chemical reaction networks of metabolic pathways.
About Mascoma
Mascoma Corporation was founded in 2006. It is aggressively pursuing the development of advanced cellulosic ethanol technologies based on work developed in Professor Lee Lynd’s labs at Dartmouth College, across a range of cellulosic feedstocks. As part of its two-pronged strategy of technology development and deployment, Mascoma has patented numerous technologies for cellulosic production and is also forming a broad set of partnerships to commercialize new cellulosic ethanol technologies and processes. Mascoma’s scientific founders have many years of experience in biomass ethanol and include Dartmouth Professor Lee Lynd and University of California Professor Charles Wyman. Mascoma President Colin South earned a Ph.D. in the cellulose ethanol field in Lynd’s lab and has experience as a biotech CEO as well as in the field of design and construction engineering.
Integrated Genomics
CONTACT: Vinayak Kapatral, Ph.D., Vice President, Business Development ofIntegrated Genomics, +1-312-491-0846 x 326, vinayak@integratedgenomics.com
Web site: http://www.integratedgenomics.com/
