Shafallah Center purchases Illumina BeadLab for new genomics facility in Qatar

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, May 9 - Illumina, Inc. said Tuesday that it has installed a genotyping BeadLab in the genetics facility at the Shafallah Center for Children with Special Needs in Doha, Qatar.

The BeadLab will anchor the first phase of the Shafallah Center's transformation into a world-class center of research excellence, integrating child-centered capabilities that range from genomics and disease discovery to existing strengths in clinical treatment, special education and related paramedical services, according to a company news release.

The Shafallah center will have extensive and unique access to samples from founder populations indigenous to the Arabian Gulf Region, officials said. These samples have well-documented family histories that may accelerate the understanding of the genetic basis of disease - not only those affecting children, but also those that are common to all population and age groups.

The research focus will include rare autosomal recessive diseases, of which many are unique or first-discovered in the Gulf, as well as complex diseases such as diabetes, the prevalence of which in the Gulf is among the world's highest, officials said.

All diseases explored at the new facility will involve the collection and analysis of clinical and genetic as well as pedigree data.

The BeadLab is an end-to-end genetic analysis solution built around Illumina's proprietary BeadArray technology and featuring extensive automation, parallel sample throughput, multiplexed assay protocols, positive sample tracking, allele-calling software, low running cost per sample and industry-leading performance.

The center said it plans initially to conduct genome-wide disease association studies using Illumina's Sentrix HumanHap BeadChips, which are designed to genotype between 100,000 and 550,000 SNP loci per sample on a single microarray.

San Diego-based Illumina develops and markets next-generation tools for the large-scale analysis of genetic variation and function.

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