Biotech Updates

"Smart-Seq" For Closer Individual Cell Analysis in Cancer Research

August 10, 2012

Scientists from Sweden and the United States have shown that a novel genomic sequencing method called "Smart-Seq" can help scientists conduct in-depth analyses of clinically relevant single cells. The report published in the journal Nature Biotechnology presents the potential applications of the sequencing method for scientists and students to better understand the complexities of tumor development.

A recent breakthrough on the application of the technology in a patient with recurring malignant melanoma was the detection that the tumor cells had activated the important membrane proteins that are responsible for the tumor cells' ability to evade the body's monitoring system and spread in the blood or lymph.

Dr. Rickard Sandberg, author of the study from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Sweden comments, 'While our results are preliminary, we showed that it is possible to do studies of individual, clinically relevant cells. Cancer researchers around the world will now be able to analyze these cells more systematically to enable them to produce better methods of diagnosis and therapy in the future.'

See the detailed report  at  http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS_FP7&ACTION=D&DOC=6&CAT=NEWS&QUERY=01390e3858c1:1f8b:20511035&RCN=34872