Stratagene Highlights Results of FDA's MicroArray Quality Control Project

This is exactly what I was describing in my Term of the Day from September 8th.

Stratagene's Universal Reference RNA Proves Valuable as a Reference Standard for Comparing Results From Many Microarray Platforms


LA JOLLA, Calif.--(Sept. 12, 2006--Stratagene Corporation, a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialized life science research and diagnostic products, today highlighted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) publication of results from its MicroArray Quality Control (MAQC) project.
As part of the FDA's Critical Path Initiative, the MAQC project aimed to develop standards and quality measures for the microarray community, so that microarrays, as a core technology of pharmacogenomics and toxicogenomics [pharmacology/toxicology at the DNA level of protein expression], could successfully and reliably be used in clinical practice and regulatory decision-making. As a result, the MAQC project will help improve microarray technology and foster its proper applications in the discovery, development and review of FDA regulated products.

"We are proud to have been a part of this collaboration that brought together a broad range of academic, governmental, and commercial organizations, all with the future of microarray technology in mind," said Joseph A. Sorge, MD, President and CEO of Stratagene. "Stratagene's Universal Reference RNA was one of two high-quality reference standards selected as part of the MAQC project. These reference RNAs allow laboratories with many different microarray platforms to compare and share data in the global microarray community."
That is very important for both controls in actually doing the experiments (The RNA needs to be pure and clean) and it's coming from the same source so all the experiments will use the same RNA. NICE!

The project involved six FDA Centers, major providers of microarray platforms and RNA samples, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, academic laboratories, and other stakeholders. By providing the public with large reference datasets along with readily accessible reference RNA samples, the MAQC project aimed to establish quality control metrics and thresholds for objectively assessing the performance achievable by various microarray platforms and evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of various data analysis methods.

For more information about Stratagene's Universal Reference RNAs, visit http://www.stratagene.com/microarrays.

Stratagene is publicly traded on the NASDAQ Index, ticker symbol:STGN