Executive Summary

Nanogen's efforts to develop a panel of tests for the Ashkenazi Jewish population has received a boost. The San Diego, California firm has licensed three of the most common gene mutations associated with diagnosing Canavan disease, a deadly genetic disorder that primarily strikes infants of eastern and central European Jewish (Ashkenazi) descent. The non-exclusive licence agreement was formed with US firm Miami Children's Hospital Research Institute. Nanogen says that Canavan disease attacks an infant's brain and prevents normal development, eventually resulting in premature death. It adds that around 90% of the American Jewish population is of Ashkenazi descent, from which one in 40 is a carrier of the Canavan gene.