Full Press Release Details
Sciences, a Subsidiary of BioTime, Announces Publication of Research
Report Describing Non-Redundant Compendium of Human Non-Coding RNA
Authored by GeneCards
shows the existence of 80,000 human non-redundant non-coding RNAs
covering 71% of the human genome, slightly less than the ENCODE
ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 30, 2013--LifeMap Sciences,
Inc., a subsidiary of BioTime, Inc. (NYSE MKT: BTX), announced today the
publication of a paper authored by a research group under the
supervision of Prof. Doron Lancet from the Department of Molecular
Genetics at the Weizmann Institute of Science describing the analysis
and display of a non-redundant compendium of human non-coding RNA genes,
which was made available as part of GeneCards
Version 3.09, released November 18, 2012. LifeMap Sciences holds the
exclusive worldwide license to market GeneCards
from Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd., the commercial arm of
the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes are increasingly acknowledged for their
importance in the human genome, and are implicated in various disease
processes. Therefore they are of interest to many academic and industry
researchers in various biomedical fields, and to biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies engaged in discovery and development of
diagnostic and therapeutic products. The ENCODE project (www.genome.gov/10005107),
launched in 2003 has recently predicted that ~80% of all genomic
territories are transcribed in one fashion or another. In the GeneCards
publication, in the journal Bioinformatics (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23172862),
the scientists leveraged the effective platform of GeneCards
to unify all ncRNA gene entries obtained from 15 different primary data
sources. Overlapping entries were clustered to unified locations based
on an algorithm employing genomic coordinates, resulting in a 5-fold
increase, to a total of 80,000 human non-redundant ncRNAs, belonging to
14 classes. The total genome territory covered is 71% of the human
genome, slightly less than the ENCODE prediction. This difference may be
due to dataset input and computation discrepancies or may represent
ncRNA genes still awaiting identification and characterization.
GeneCards is a comprehensive online database
that provides concise genomic information on all known and predicted
human genes. With over 12 million page visits per year from hundreds of
thousands of unique users worldwide, GeneCards
is accessed by professionals in academia, research hospitals, patent
offices, and leading biotech and pharma companies. GeneCards
was developed, and is continuously enhanced by ongoing research, by the
bioinformatics team at the Department of Molecular Genetics at the
Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, with principal investigator
Professor Doron Lancet, head of the Crown Human Genome Center, and team
leader Marilyn Safran.
"It is wonderful to see how GeneCards
allowed us to overcome the great obstacles of grand unification of ncRNA
genes. This allows scientists to make discoveries on biological and
disease-related roles for genes belonging to this newly open vista of
the human genome," said Professor Doron Lancet, Ph.D., The Ralph D. and
Lois R. Silver Professor of Human Genomics, at the Weizmann Institute of
"The addition of detailed annotated ncRNAs information, while providing
the big picture on ncRNAs is a significant addition to GeneCards ,"
stated Yaron Guan-Golan, Head of Marketing at LifeMap Sciences. "We have
already seen substantial interest from companies and academic users to
access this new information for their research and product discovery
efforts. We believe that this new information, and the synergies between GeneCards ,
MalaCards, and LifeMap DiscoveryTM will
significantly enhance basic research, and contribute greatly to the
discovery and development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic products
About LifeMap Sciences, Inc.
LifeMap Sciences' (www.lifemapsc.com) core technology and
business is based on its integrated database suite, the discovery
platform for biomedical and stem cell research. This platform includes GeneCards ,
the leading human gene database; LifeMap Discovery , the database
of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative medicine;
and MalaCards, the human disease database. LifeMap Sciences also
markets PanDaTox, an innovative, recently developed, searchable
database that can aid in the discovery of new antibiotics and
biotechnologically beneficial products.
In addition to database offerings, LifeMap Sciences is BioTime's
principal marketing subsidiary for research products, including PureStem
human progenitor cell lines, GMP human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines, ESpan
growth media for progenitor cell lines, and cell differentiation media
for non-therapeutic uses, via its LifeMap BioReagents portal.
LifeMap Sciences utilizes its databases as part of its online marketing
strategy to reach life sciences researchers at biotech and
pharmaceutical companies and at academic institutions and research
hospitals worldwide.
In a therapeutic discovery collaboration with BioTime, LifeMap's
scientists utilize LifeMap's proprietary platform, including LifeMap
Discovery , its stem cell database along with the GeneCards
and MalaCards integrated database suite, to aid in the
development of BioTime's proprietary PureStem human
progenitor cell lines into products for the treatment of human diseases,
especially degenerative diseases that might be treatable with cell
replacement therapies. The LifeMap Discovery platform will be
used to select the progenitor cell lines that are most likely to be
useful in developing cell-based regenerative medicine therapies for a
wide range of diseases.
BioTime, headquartered in Alameda, California, is a biotechnology
company focused on regenerative medicine and blood plasma volume
expanders. Its broad platform of stem cell technologies is enhanced
through subsidiaries focused on specific fields of application. BioTime
develops and markets research products in the fields of stem cells and
regenerative medicine, including a wide array of proprietary PureStem
cell lines, HyStem hydrogels, culture media, and
differentiation kits. BioTime is developing Renevia (formerly
known as HyStem -Rx), a biocompatible,
implantable hyaluronan and collagen-based matrix for cell delivery in