Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic has entered into a multiyear partnership with U.K.-based company Oxford Nanopore to explore genetic predispositions to cancer.
Using the nanopore-based molecular sensing technology developed by Oxford Nanopore, Mayo Clinic researchers can develop new clinical tests to sequence a patient's DNA and examine methylation — a biochemical process that regulates gene expression — in real time, according to an Oct. 19 news release.
Typically, examining methylation is a separate process that requires additional time and cost. The ability to do this in real-time will allow clinicians to see a more complete picture of a patient's cancer genome.
The partnership ultimately "further helps advance patient care," Bobbi Pritt, MD, the interim chair of Mayo Clinic's Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, stated in the release.