LifeMap Sciences Announces the Next Generation of GeneCards® – Version 4.0
ALAMEDA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LifeMap Sciences, Inc., a subsidiary of BioTime, Inc., announced today the release ofGeneCards® Version 4.0 with a new technology platform and redesigned user interface. The new release is available now atwww.genecards.org. GeneCards is a database that provides comprehensive information on all known human genes, and is available via the cloud and onsite installation. GeneCards 4.0 is a major empowering technology for LifeMap’s next generation sequencing (“NGS”) analysis and interpretation platform (http://www.lifemapsc.com/solutions/ngs-data-biological-interpretation/) which was launched in 2015. This platform leverages LifeMap Sciences’ GeneCards Suite knowledgebase for variant gene prioritization and RNAseq and microarray gene set analysis, to deliver enhanced results from the unprecedented quantities of data derived from next generation sequencing, a technology that is rapidly expanding globally and is expected to greatly enhance basic and clinical research and the medical field at large. LifeMap Sciences plans on expanding its offering and commercialization by partnering with leading companies that offer synergistic capabilities in the NGS analysis arena.
“It’s a pleasure to see this new major version of GeneCards come to light. GeneCards 4.0 embodies everything that users like about this database, boasting a greatly improved user experience, and a new cutting edge technology platform”
As a well-established leader that’s used in more than 3,000 institutions including academia, research hospitals and industry, GeneCards is the flagship database in the GeneCards Suite, which is comprised of an integrated biomedical knowledgebase and premium tools that enable researchers to effectively navigate a wide universe of human genes, variants, proteins, cells, biological pathways, diseases, and the relationships between them. GeneCards 4.0 will provide end-users a significant technological leap by using the GeneCards platform which offers; powerful data mining, faster data updates, and easier integrations through a new API. The new GeneCards functionality and API provides substantially improved technology to enhance LifeMap Sciences’ NGS offerings, including MalaCards, the human disease database, and the GeneCards Suite premium tools, a set of biomedical data analysis applications that includes VarElect, the NGS phenotyper, and GeneAnalytics™, a novel gene set analysis tool. It also introduces a modern, easier to use, revamped user interface that enables researches to quickly find the information that they need, as well as the ability to tap into a consolidation of research products.
“We are excited to introduce the new GeneCards 4 platform, a product in development over the last two years,” stated Yaron Guan-Golan, Chief Marketing Officer of LifeMap Sciences. “The new GeneCards powers our entire GeneCards Suite of products, and is a major driver behind our NGS variant gene analysis platform. We are also very pleased with the positive initial feedback that we have received from some of our existing customers related to our revamped user interface, becauseGeneCards 4.0 offers overall better user experiences and navigation, thus enhancing the GeneCards platform for our large user base in academia and in the biopharma industry.”
“It’s a pleasure to see this new major version of GeneCards come to light. GeneCards 4.0 embodies everything that users like about this database, boasting a greatly improved user experience, and a new cutting edge technology platform,” said Doron Lancet, Ph.D., Professor at the department of Molecular Genetics, and Head of the Crown Genome Center at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Principal Investigator of GeneCards and its affiliated software suite.
About LifeMap Sciences, Inc.
LifeMap Sciences (“LifeMap”) is a life sciences technology company that offers integrated, streamlined solutions that empower life scientists worldwide to conduct cutting edge basic, clinical and applied biomedical research. LifeMap’s products are used in more than 3,000 institutions including academia, research hospitals, patent offices, and leading biopharma and diagnostic companies. Operations worldwide are carried out from our offices in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Tel Aviv and Hong Kong. LifeMap is a subsidiary of BioTime, Inc.
The company’s primary product offering, the GeneCards Suite, is comprised of an integrated biomedical knowledgebase and premium tools that enable researchers to effectively navigate the universe of human genes, proteins, cells, biological pathways, diseases, and the relationships between them. The knowledgebase includes three key databases that integrate information from over 100 sources: GeneCards®, the leading human gene database, MalaCards, the human disease database, and LifeMap Discovery®, the cells and tissues database. The GeneCards Suite premium tools are a set of biomedical data analysis applications that leverage the GeneCards Suite knowledgebase for gene variant prioritization and RNAseq and microarray gene set analysis to deliver enhanced results, including from the unprecedented quantities of data derived from next generation sequencing (“NGS”). The premium tools include VarElect, the NGS phenotyper, GeneAnalytics™, a novel gene set analysis tool, and GeneALaCart, the GeneCards batch querying application.
LifeMap Sciences also intends to extend its offerings to the field of mobile health via its subsidiary, LifeMap Solutions, Inc.
About the Weizmann Institute of Science and GeneCards
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, is one of the world’s top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, the Institute is home to scientists, postdoctoral fellows, Ph.D. and M.Sc. students, and scientific, technical and administrative staff. In addition, visiting scientists and their families – over 500 from 35 countries are regularly hosted at the Institute. The Institute was founded in 1934 following a donation from Israel and Rebecca Sieff to Dr. Chaim Weizmann, a noted biochemist and biotechnologist, who envisioned the establishment of a world-class scientific research center in Israel, and later also became the first President of the State of Israel. Weizmann Institute’s Feinberg Graduate School, established in 1958, has 1200 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students enrolled in studies covering the Institute’s five faculties: Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics and Computer Science. The Institute’s technology transfer arm, Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd. was the first company of its kind in Israel, and is currently one of the most successful worldwide. Institute research efforts include the search for new ways of fighting disease and hunger, examining leading questions in mathematics and computer science, probing the physics of matter and the universe, creating novel materials and developing new strategies for protecting the environment. Particular excellence in bioinformatics and systems biology is manifested, among others, in the GeneCards project, initiated in 1996, under the leadership of Prof. Doron Lancet of the Dept. of Molecular Genetics, Head of the Crown Human Genome Center. A team of 10 led by Marilyn Safran continuously innovates and keeps GeneCards as a world-top human gene compendium, automatically mining and integrating 100 worldwide web resources.
About BioTime, Inc.
BioTime, Inc., a pioneer in regenerative medicine, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. BioTime and its subsidiaries are leveraging their industry-leading experience in pluripotent stem cell technology and a broad intellectual property portfolio to facilitate the development and use of cell-based therapies and gene marker-based molecular diagnostics for major diseases and degenerative conditions for which there presently are no cures. The lead clinical programs of BioTime and its subsidiaries include OpRegen®, currently in a Phase I/IIa trial for the treatment of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration; AST-OPC1, currently in a Phase I/IIa trial for spinal cord injuries; Renevia™, currently in a pivotal trial in Europe as an injectable matrix for the engraftment of transplanted cells to treat HIV-related lipoatrophy; and PanC-Dx™ cancer diagnostics, nearing the completion of initial clinical studies for the detection of lung, bladder, and breast cancers. AST-VAC2, a cancer vaccine, is in the pre-clinical trial stage.
BioTime’s subsidiaries include the publicly traded Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc., developing pluripotent stem cell-based therapies in neurology and oncology, including AST-OPC1 and AST-VAC2; Cell Cure Neurosciences Ltd., developing stem cell-based therapies for retinal and neurological disorders, including OpRegen®; OncoCyte Corporation, developing PanC-Dx™ cancer diagnostics; LifeMap Sciences, Inc., developing and marketing an integrated on-line database resource for biomedical and stem cell research; LifeMap Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of LifeMap Sciences, developing mobile health (mHealth) products; ES Cell International Pte Ltd, which has developed cGMP-compliant human embryonic stem cell lines that are being marketed by BioTime for research purposes under the ESI BIO branding program; OrthoCyte Corporation, developing therapies to treat orthopedic disorders, diseases, and injuries; and ReCyte Therapeutics, Inc., developing therapies to treat a variety of cardiovascular and related ischemic disorders.
Additional information about BioTime can be found on the web at www.biotimeinc.com
