Gel System Gets Horsey

Syngene Gel Doc System Utilized at Renowned Veterinary Centre To Help in Research on Effectively Treating Debilitating Equine Diseases

Frederick, MD: Syngene, a world-leading manufacturer of image analysis solutions, is pleased to announce its G:BOX EF gel imaging system is being used by researchers in the School of Veterinary Science at The University of Liverpool in the UK to help identify which drugs can be used most effectively against Cyathostomes (small red worms), a major horse parasite, which have the potential to cause disease.

Scientists in the Department of Infection Biology at the School of Veterinary Science are using a G:BOX EF gel doc system to visualize DNA on agarose gels stained with SYBR® Safe (Invitrogen). The information obtained is being used to determine parasite resistance to a range of anti-parasitic drugs and could help vets to find the most effective drugs for treatment and control.

Dr Krystyna Cwiklinski, Research Associate at the School of Veterinary Science explained: “Horses with Cyathostome infections need to be treated with anthelmintic drugs to ensure they stay healthy. We monitor parasite resistance to these drugs by cloning PCR amplified DNA derived from the worms and then we pyrosequence the DNA to determine if there are any drug resistance genes.”

Dr Cwiklinski continued: “During this research we run a large number of DNA gels. These are stained with SYBR Safe because it is less toxic than Ethidium bromide and are visualized with blue light as it is safer than using UV. Often the resulting PCR products are difficult-to-detect low intensity bands. To solve this problem we need a sensitive gel doc system, which is why we chose the G:BOX EF.”

Laura Sullivan, Syngene’s Divisional Manager, stated: “We are delighted that our G:BOX EF is being used at the long established School of Veterinary Science in Liverpool to ensure horses continue to receive the right treatment for this unpleasant infection. Their work with the G:BOX EF shows researchers everywhere that they don’t have to compromise on safety to find the right gel doc system for detecting their DNA.”

About Syngene

Syngene is a world-leading supplier of integrated imaging solutions for analysis and documentation of gel-based information. Syngene’s systems are used by more than 10,000 research organizations and over 50,000 individual scientists world-wide and include many of the world’s top pharmaceutical companies and major research institutes.

Syngene, founded in 1997 is a division of the Cambridge based Synoptics Group. The Group’s other divisions, Syncroscopy and Synbiosis, specialize in digital imaging solutions for microscopy and microbial applications respectively. Synoptics currently employs over 40 people in its UK and subsidiary operation in Frederick, USA.

About the Department of Infection Biology

Part of one of the UK’s oldest Veterinary Schools, the Department of Infection Biology at the University of Liverpool is at the forefront of veterinary teaching and research. Research interests in the Department include: viral, bacterial, protozoan and metazoan pathogens of livestock and domestic animals. These are investigated through the application of a variety of conventional and modern scientific technologies at the molecular, cellular and whole animal-pathogen level.

Extensive collaboration is well established by the Department of Infection Biology with research groups within the School of Veterinary Science, elsewhere in the University of Liverpool and School of Tropical Medicine as well as externally with other institutions, government agencies and industry.