454 Sequencing Reveals New Class Of Small RNAs

CuraGen
Corporation's (Nasdaq: CRGN) majority-owned subsidiary 454 Life Sciences
Corporation today announced that researchers have uncovered a new class of
small, non-coding RNAs in worms. Using massively parallel sequencing
technology, David Bartel, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and colleagues sequenced some
400,000 small RNAs from Caenorhabditis elegans, identifying 18 new microRNA
genes and more than 5,000 other RNAs of a type that had not been previously
reported. The study, entitled, "Large-scale sequencing reveals 21U-RNAs and
additional microRNAs and endogenous siRNAs in C. elegans" appeared in the
December 15 issue of the journal Cell, and describes how 454 Sequencing(TM)
was used to determine the small RNAs naturally found in worms.



"This discovery further emphasizes the point that we have not
completely reached the depths of RNA function, and we are excited to see
how this develops," said Michael Egholm, Ph.D., Vice President, Molecular
Biology, 454 Life Sciences. "It will be interesting to see if the
ultra-deep capabilities of 454 Sequencing will lead to the discovery of new
classes of small RNAs in other species."



Bartel's group has been systematically working its way through the RNA
census of C. elegans for several years now. In 2001, the group sequenced
330 small RNAs using traditional Sanger sequencing to identify 55
microRNAs. Bartel followed that project up in 2003 with a deeper sequencing
effort, reading 4,000 small RNAs to yield an additional 40 or so microRNAs.
In this latest study, his team used 454 Sequencing to read some 400,000
small RNAs, including 18 new microRNAs.



454 Life Sciences has made its technology commercially available via
the 454 Sequencing Center, which offers sequencing services to clients
worldwide. The Genome Sequencer 20 System and related products are sold
worldwide by Roche Applied Science, a business unit of Roche Diagnostics.



About 454 Life Sciences



454 Life Sciences, established in 2000 as a majority-owned subsidiary
of CuraGen Corporation (Nasdaq: CRGN), develops and commercializes novel
instrumentation for high-throughput nucleotide sequencing, with specific
application to whole-genome sequencing and ultra-deep sequencing of target
genes. The hallmarks of 454 Sequencing(TM) are its simple, unbiased sample
preparation and massively parallel sequencing, which makes large-scale
scientific projects feasible and more affordable. The Genome Sequencer
20(TM) System enables one individual to prepare and sequence an entire
genome, regardless of size. A single instrument using patented light
emitting sequencing chemistries produces over 20 million nucleotide bases
per five-hour run, more than 60 times the capacity of currently available
instruments. In 2005, 454 Sequencing and the Genome Sequencer 20 System won
The Wall Street Journal's top Innovation Award for 2005, and received an
R&D 100 Editor's Choice Award as one of the most technologically
significant products introduced in 2006. The 454 Sequencing Center offers
sequencing services directly to customers on a fee for service basis. The
Genome Sequencer 20 system is exclusively distributed for 454 Life Sciences
by Roche Applied Science, a division of Roche Diagnostics. For additional
information please visit 454.
















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Life Sciences(TM), Genome Sequencer 20(TM), PicoTiterPlate(TM), and 454
Sequencing(TM) are trademarks of 454 Life Sciences Corporation.


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