One challenge is that researchers using this system would bescattered all over the country. Since there isn't a single distinct group workingon the data, Doucette-Stamm says, they needed to make sure the database is easyto use for anyone. Another distinguishing point of the online database, shesays, is that once sequencing is done, the data will be posted immediately,keeping the system as real-time as possible.
The field of cancer genomics is a key focus of AgencourtGenomic Services, and that is one reason for the company winning the biddingprocess for the contract, Doucette-Stamm notes. In late 2006, the companyannounced that its Genomic Services were integral in a Johns Hopkins study onthe genetic code for breast and colon cancers, and a widely publicized reporton that study was co-authored by James Hartigan, an Agencourt project manager.The research identified close to 200 mutated genes, now linked to thesecancers, most of which were not previously recognized as associated with tumorinitiation, growth, spread or control. More recently, in October, Agencourtfollowed up on that effort with some addition work with Johns Hopkins on breastand colon cancer that, among other things, catalogs the genetic changes thatoccur during tumorigenesis.
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