This is the only software in the world that makes it possible to effectively identify the location of a disease gene in large families
Avi Blizovsky
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The Technion sold to the company "Insightful" from Seattle in the USA, a unique gene mapping software, the only one in the world that makes it possible to effectively identify the location of a disease gene in large families. The software was developed by the doctoral candidate Maayan Fishelzon and her supervisor - Professor Dan Geiger from the Faculty of Computer Science.
"The software, which was developed over two years, is effective in discovering the genes of diseases with a genetic component," explains Professor Geiger. "It is intended for pharmaceutical companies and researchers looking for genes for genetic diseases, because when such a gene is identified, the process of finding a cure for the disease can begin."
The researchers take genetic markers from all family members, enter the family tree and the genetic markers of each of the subjects into the computer. Yes, they indicate who is sick and who is not. The software, "Super Link" its name, calculates the approximate location of the gene by trying different locations and at each location it calculates the probability of the presence of the genetic markers and the disease that the researchers are looking for in the family.
At the beginning of the process, the researchers build the family tree, then they mark who is sick and who is not, and finally they take a blood test from each family member and do the genetic test on it. This is where the new software comes into play. With it, the researchers identify the approximate location of the disease gene in the chromosome. From here on, the researchers can trace the products of the gene and their effect on the development of the disease, in the hope of producing a cure in the future.
"The software brings the researcher to the starting point of the long process of drug production," explains Professor Geiger. "Its great advantage is its ability to perform the calculations on large families with many consanguineous marriages, using many genetic markers. In this it is unique in the world." Informatics". Since then it has been downloaded from the internet by many researchers around the world, pathologists, children's hospitals, genetics departments and pharmaceutical companies.
The Technion is now conducting negotiations with the Israeli company "Lancelt", with the goal of introducing the software to the innovative optical computer it is building.
The human genome scientist
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