10,000 Novel Genes in Six Months

Applied Genetics News,  March 19, 1999  

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Lexicon Genetics, Inc. (Woodlands, TX; Website: www.lexgen.com ) has introduced its LexGene trap technology to discover rarely expressed human genes that may represent the underlying basis for many diseases and therefore the best targets for therapeutic intervention. The technology uses engineered gene trap vectors that insert randomly into the chromosomes of human cell lines and may thereby trap thousands of genes.

LexGene is an extension of the technology the company used in a study of mouse embryonic cell lines that was published in the April 9,1998 issue of Nature. Using the LexGene technology, Lexicon claims to have trapped over 20,000 genes within a few months, 10,000 of which have never been reported to published gene sequence databases, including those maintained by the human genome project sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The company reported on its efforts at the BIO CEO/Investor Conference held in New York City. Gene discovery methods using gene expression approaches are biased toward identifying abundantly expressed genes. The LexGene trap approach provides a method for identifying the 30 to 40% of genes remaining to be discovered that are rarely expressed, which may therefore have eluded researchers. Over 90% of Lexicon's trapped DNA sequences have been verified as genes and approximately 50% of these are novel. Among the types of genes present in the company's proprietary human gene trap Database are novel G protein-coupled receptors, protein kinases, proteases, protease inhibitors, secreted proteins, ion channel proteins, transport proteins, and uncoupling proteins. "We may have already trapped and sequenced a significant percentage of genes in the human genome and should complete our capture of genes throughout the genome within the next few months," says Arthur T. Sands, president and CEO of Lexicon. The company is interested in applying the technology to other organisms besides mice and men, including animals and plants that are commercially important

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