Halo Genomics partner in € 40 million European epigenomics research project

Halo Genomics recently participated in the official Blueprint epigenomics project kick-off meeting in Amsterdam. Out of the total project budget of € 40 million, the European Commission has invested € 30 million to investigate the human epigenome. The Blueprint project will focus on studying epigenetic changes in blood-based diseases like leukemia. The aim is to generate at least 100 reference epigenomes and study their underlying biological processes and mechanisms associated with health and disease.

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification which plays an important role in regulation of gene expression. Halo Genomics will develop the proprietary HaloPlex PCR technology to allow capture of selected genomic regions for targeted methylation analysis in a large number of samples.

“Our HaloPlex technology presents a very attractive solution for targeted methylation studies. By performing bisulphite treatment of the captured and methylated DNA, sequence bias can be avoided and the bisulphite pattern preserved in the subsequent amplification reaction. Furthermore, our HaloPlex technology will allow large-scale identification of methylation patterns using a quick and simple protocol that does not require any dedicated instrumentation or sequencing library preparation”, said Fredrik Dahl, CTO of Halo Genomics.

The project is coordinated by Professor Henk Stunnenberg at the Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Project partners include Halo Genomics, Epigenomics AG, Oxford Nanopore, the Max Planck Institute, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, University College London, the Babraham Institute, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), among others.