Paracel Inc., a leading provider of high-performance bioinformatics tools, announced today that its latest generation genomic analysis system, GeneMatcher(TM), has been installed at Paradigm Genetics Inc. located in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

Paradigm Genetics is using the system to enable high-throughput gene annotation and to augment their novel genomics-based approach to engineering better and safer agricultural products.

"We are very pleased to have Paradigm Genetics as a customer,'' said Dr. Kwang-I Yu, Paracel's
chairman, president and CEO. "They represent the beginning of an exciting new era in the application of genomics to improving agriculture, and their rapid incorporation of advanced technologies is impressive.''

"GeneMatcher provides a versatile tool for high speed DNA and protein searches that would have been impossible only two years ago,'' said Craig Liddell, director of informatics for Paradigm Genetics. "It enhances our ability to identify agriculturally important genes that will be used in a new generation of highly specific and safer agricultural products.''

GeneMatcher is a massively parallel genetic data analysis engine for high-throughput search and annotation. A single GeneMatcher contains more than 6,000 custom processors, programmable to execute a full range of genetic comparison algorithms such as Smith-Waterman, hidden Markov models, frame and profile search.

Paracel's GeneMatcher system offers both the power of command-line control as well as the ease of use of a graphical Web interface. It also includes an application programmer's interface (API) for in-house developers wishing to directly integrate GeneMatcher into their own proprietary systems.

Paradigm Genetics Inc., located in Research Triangle Park, is dedicated to using functional genomics and bioinformatics to enhance worldwide food and fiber production by discovering better and safer compounds to protect crops against weeds, diseases and insect pests, and to improving the quality of seed germplasm through the development of more efficient breeding tools, as well as the discovery of new and valuable genes for use in transgenic crops.

Paradigm plans to achieve its goals by acting independently and by joining in alliances with multiple development and commercialization partners to bring crop protection chemicals and  improved plants to market.

Paracel Inc., founded in 1992, provides high-performance genetic data and text analysis systems for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and government markets. Paracel is a privately held company located in Pasadena, with support offices in San Jose, Calif.; Columbia, Md.; and Milton Keynes, in the U.K.

Company news release
N1837