Image Collection and Analysis

LIFESPAN BIOSCIENCES ACHIEVES CORPORATE MILESTONE, DEPLOYING NEW AUTOMATED SYSTEM FOR INDUSTRIAL-SCALE IMAGE COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

SEATTLE, WA (April 3, 2002) — A new robotic microscope system, capable of capturing and analyzing many thousands of images per day, is dramatically accelerating analysis of gene and protein expression at the cellular level, say scientists at LifeSpan Biosciences. The company, which invented the new automated image capture and analysis system, recently deployed the first of its robotic microscopes in its molecular pathology and tissue proteomics efforts. It plans to deploy three additional systems in the coming months.

“This technology brings the 100-year-old art of pathology into the 21st century,” said Joseph Brown, Ph.D., LifeSpan’s president and chief executive officer. “Our system frees pathologists from the need to perform routine screening, allowing them to focus on high-value analysis and interpretation.” He noted that a single robotic system can automatically collect and analyze 35,000 images per day. LifeSpan is building four of these systems, so the storage and archiving of terabytes of data pose interesting challenges for LifeSpan's information systems developers.

LifeSpan is using its robotic microscope systems to generate a comprehensive atlas of expression of each of the more than 30,000 human genes in normal and diseased human tissues. By using its bank of 2 million normal and diseased human tissue specimens along with specific nucleic acid probes and antibodies, LifeSpan measures the expression of mRNA and protein at the cellular level. This approach allows researchers to narrow down the hundreds of potential gene targets identified by using high-throughput expression profiling methods such as gene chips, to a few validated candidate drug target genes. LifeSpan believes its molecular pathology approach represents a significant advance in genomics and proteomics research.

“Our robotic microscope and image processing capabilities are not limited to molecular pathology and tissue proteomics applications,” said Dr. Brown. “We believe this technology will find a wide range of applications outside drug discovery, and we are actively seeking strategic partners to help us realize its full potential.”

How the System Works

The automated system uses robotic microscopes with artificial intelligence software to identify structures and cell types within tissues. By using tagged antibodies that bind specifically to individual proteins, the system can determine which cells express a particular protein.

"The analogy is finding a tank hidden in a forest,” said Dr. Glenna Burmer, chief scientific officer of LifeSpan. “By using imaging software alone, you might recognize the forest, but not the tank. If the tank is marked with brilliant red coloring, it is easily recognizable by its color. The tagged antibody paints the protein red, and you can detect its color as well as identify it as being within a particular cell type because of its relationship to the surrounding structures.

"We are developing artificial intelligence algorithms and antibody markers that can be used broadly to identify proteins in tissue proteomics, diagnostic pathology, and medical imaging,” she said.

About LifeSpan Biosciences, Inc.

LifeSpan Biosciences, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is a privately held genomics company founded in 1995 that utilizes proprietary molecular pathology and bioinformatics technology to profile and localize gene expression in normal and diseased human tissues for its more than 50 pharmaceutical company customers in Europe, Asia and North America. LifeSpan is currently applying its technology and expertise to the production of a comprehensive atlas on the expression of each of the 30,000 human genes in both normal and diseased tissues. For more information on LifeSpan Biosciences, contact Joseph P. Brown, Ph.D., CEO at 206/ 464-1554 or joe@lsbio.com, or visit the company’s website at www.lsbio.com.