Bioinformatics Tool Will Help Chr. Hansen Improve Human Health

Chr. Hansen has obtained the license to use the proprietary ERGO database and genomic discovery system of Integrated Genomics Inc., a leading provider of bioinformatics tools.

Scientists at Chr. Hansen?s Genomics & Strain Development in Denmark will use the ERGO system to characterize and develop lactic acid bacteria used in foods and as probiotics for human health.

Optimized for analysis of microorganisms, ERGO integrates biological data from genomics, biochemistry, gene expression studies, genetics and literature. Reaching beyond conventional systems for functional analysis of DNA sequences, Integrated Genomics' platform combines pattern-based analysis with comparative genomics and enables visualization of genes in the contexts of regulation, gene expression data, phylogeny, chromosomal neighborhoods and identification of natural gene fusions. ERGO contains more than 900 genomes at various stages of completion, as well as the largest available collection of networked cellular pathways.

"One great new feature in ERGO is the ability to quickly identify genes that are unique for a certain species or a group. This makes it possible to get an indication of which genes are responsible for giving each species its distinctive properties", said Dr. Martin Bastian Pedersen, Research Scientist at Chr. Hansen in Denmark.

Chr. Hansen and Integrated Genomics expect the current project to run through 2006. In addition to licensing the ERGO software, Integrated Genomics and Chr. Hansen have worked together for several years to sequence and analyze lactic acid bacteria; most recently the genome sequence of the probiotic Chr. Hansen strain Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis Bb-12® was finalized in 2005.