SHANGHAI is developing a new human-gene chip that can predict the possibility of breast or stomach cancer in patients in the early stages of the diseases or after operations, a city scientist said yesterday.

"We want the chips to help us personalize therapies for patients with the same disease," Xiao Huasheng, head of the gene-chip department of Shanghai Biochip Co, said yesterday.

The company, which is government-backed and overlaps with the national biochip engineering center in Shanghai, plans to develop the first batch of biochips before 2010.

The project is supported by two million yuan (US$259,740) from the central and city governments. But company scientists estimate the project will cost "several times more."

So far, Shanghai Biochip has collected more than 200 sections of human genes related to breast and stomach cancers and proteins among other genetic materials that are called biomarkers.

Scientists use the chips made of biomarkers to detect the possibility of cancer by applying certain human cells to them and analyzing their matchmaking status.

Xiao said biochips have already been used in the United States to predict breast cancer.

With the help of the new chip, breast cancer patients will be able to know in advance if they need chemotherapy after an operation. The chips will also allow doctors to prescribe personalized medicine for patients.

According to statistics provided by Shanghai Biochip, chemotherapy is widely used to treat breast cancer but it has a 30 percent failure rate in women.

About 40 scientists and business executives from around the world are in town to discuss biochip technology and disease classification at a three-day-symposium that ends today.

Source:佚名