DNA: California firm streamlines storage of genetic material

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Crime labs, drug companies and academic researchers store blood, urine, cheek cells and hair as if they were gold. And in a way, they are.

A method with potential to be a billion-dollar business — beginning with a streamlined storage of DNA of human body samples — is being developed by the new Carlsbad company GenVault. Its process has attracted the interest of federal health officials.

From each body sample researchers can extract the genetic material that is a unique identifier and a map to the makeup of an individual human being. It's one of the keys to developing a drug. The same information can also be used to link someone to a crime.

For years, the storage method of choice for DNA has been deep freezers, which are space and energy hogs. Blood specimens have also been stored for years on Guthrie Cards or FTA paper, both chemically treated materials that preserve the genetic properties of cells for years.

But whether in freezers or on Guthrie Cards, retrieving these samples and preparing them to remove the DNA can be cumbersome and time consuming.

GenVault, a private startup company, is offering researchers another option: dry storage with an automated retrieval system.

It's a technique that has attracted the interest of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is testing GenVault's technology for use in an annual national health survey.

"Think of these biological samples as a steak," said Michael Hogan, GenVault's chief science officer. "You can freeze a steak or turn it into jerky. They both might not be something you'd want to put on the grill, but they're still steak. That's what we are doing, but in a more skillful way."

GenVault, started with $10 million in venture capital from Domain Associates, is using the older science of Guthrie Cards, mixing it with a little modern chemistry and cutting-edge robotics. The result is a reduced-size, increased-speed storage and retrieval system that the company's founders

say can protect the integrity of biological samples for more than a decade.

The company's proprietary robotics system drops a small amount of the biological sample, such as blood, into one of 384 tiny wells in a hand-size plastic plate. The DNA in the sample is absorbed by FTA paper, a patented chemically treated paper lining the bottom of the well.

The paper deactivates other biological properties of the sample, including any that would be considered biohazards, said Mitch Eggers, GenVault's chief executive.