Riken unveils device that indicates how individual's genetics will affect drug efficacy

Published: 5-Dec-2005

The world's first fully automatic device to tell genetic differences that affect drugs' efficacy and side effects on particular patients with just a single drop of their blood has been developed by a group led by the Japanese research organization Riken.


The world's first fully automatic device to tell genetic differences that affect drugs' efficacy and side effects on particular patients with just a single drop of their blood has been developed by a group led by the Japanese research organization Riken.

Riken said that the device does not require a specialist to operate and so can be is used even in small health clinics and may help to assist in development of treatments tailored to patients' unique characteristics.

The equipment detects subtle differences in gene structures, known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), and based on analysis of the patient's SNP, it can predict physical reactions to drugs. The device can provide data on a specific drug 90 minutes after a drop of blood is put on a special developed by Toppan.

Riken developed the device in co-operation with Shimadzu and Toppan Printing after combining its findings with an SNP-analysing technique developed by Third Wave Technologies of the US.

  

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