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Illumina [101] develops and markets tools for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function. The company's proprietary BeadArray(TM) technology -now used in leading genomics centers around the world -provides the throughput, cost effectiveness and flexibility necessary to enable researchers in the life sciences and pharmaceutical industries to perform the billions of tests required to extract medically valuable information from advances in genomics and proteomics. This information will help pave the way to personalized medicine by correlating genetic variation and gene function with particular disease states, enhancing drug discovery, allowing diseases to be detected earlier and more specifically, and permitting better choices of drugs for individual patients.
Illumina was founded in 1998 and has built core competencies to support a comprehensive offering of scalable, multi-application systems. At the foundation of these systems are the Sentrix® Array Matrix, the Sentrix BeadChip, the BeadArray Reader, and the Oligator® DNA synthesis capability. The BeadStation system addresses moderate-throughput requirements and complements Illumina's production-scale BeadLab. Both systems can be scaled in multiple dimensions, providing customers with the flexibility to perform single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping or gene expression experiments on the same platform, with content ranging from whole genomes to focused sets, at various levels of throughput and automation and industry leading cost per sample. Illumina has also recently acquired technology that will enable development of bead-based assays for biomarker R&D and in vitro and molecular diagnostic opportunities, including those that require low-complexity, in addition to high-complexity testing.
Illumina employs a workforce of over 325 individuals. The company sells and distributes their products throughout the world on a direct basis, and through select distributors in the Americas, Europe and Asia.
BeadArray technology
BeadArray technology involves the random assembly of derivatized microscopic beads (approximately 3 µm in size) into wells of a patterned substrate (Figure 1) [1]. These microarrays are manufactured with relatively inexpensive materials and, in combination with the unique combination of batch-derivatized beads and self-assembly techniques, achieve a level of unprecedented miniaturization. Illumina employs two different Array of Arrays(TM) platforms: the microplate-compatible Sentrix Array Matrix, with 96 fiber optic array bundles, each with 50,000 etched wells, and the Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)-patterned Sentrix BeadChip, which can be etched in many different configurations to
Figure 1. Sentrix®...