November 2002 Meeting
The Optical Society of San Diego and tonight's
host, Jim Leatham,
would like to invite you to a talk by Philippe Marchand of Genopitx.
Optophoresis™: a novel cellular analysis technology
based on moving infrared optical gradient fields
Speaker:
Philippe Marchand, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Optical Systems, Genoptix
http://www.genoptix.com
Genoptix is building a revolutionary biomedical platform
technology, which utilizes moving waves of light to investigate the
biological properties of living cells. The technology, Optophoresis™,
probes the intrinsic characteristics of live, whole cells without
potential artifacts from tags, labels, dyes or other forms of markers,
and captures the full range of cellular responses. Optophoresis is
the only technology capable of simultaneously analyzing and isolating
specific cells based on fundamental differences between different
cell types and their responses and interactions with their environment.
Using Optophoresis, cells may be analyzed, sorted and collected for
further use. The Genoptix technology provides significant opportunities
to discover new approaches in systems biology for:
· Pharmaceutical Drug Discovery
· Biotherapeutic Process Development
· Clinical Diagnostics
The key differentiating attribute of Optophoresis™ is
its inherent non-destructive interrogation method which enables retest
and manipulation and allows sorting and harvesting of cells for further
use. Optophoresis™ requires only small sample volumes and therefore
conserves scarce resources while enabling unique assay design. Finally,
the technique is based on live whole cells interrogations and captures
a broad range of responses.
At the core of Optophoresis technology is a proprietary,
near infrared laser-based optical system designed to characterize,
select and dynamically manipulate living cells and other particles
for a variety of research and clinical applications. The near infrared
wavelength range was chosen because it is essentially harmless to
living cells and assures the continued viability of the cells for
post-processing. The optical system generates a computer-controlled
electromagnetic field, or "moving optical gradient field," which may
be precisely positioned and moved over a target cell population. As
the optical gradient field translates across a field of cells, it
moves each cell a characteristic distance. Relative motion measurements
define the Optophoretic signature for each cell under those specific
conditions. This facilitates the analysis and separation of cells
into distinct populations. When combined with microfluidics, this
separation allows for efficient population selection and recovery.
All of this is accomplished without the need for prior labeling of
the cells.
The Optophoretic approach will allow the user to:
· Analyze cells in their native, physiologic state without dyes, markers
or labels
· Specifically identify, sort and harvest cells
· Observe cells in real time as they are being tested and exposed
to drugs
· Perform time-correlated measurements repeatedly on the same population
· Control sample processing and analysis from start to finish
The fundamental nature of Genoptix' Optophoresis technology
makes it ideally suited for use in many products and applications.
Applications include lead optimization in drug discovery, rapid clonal
selection in biotherapeutic process development and cancer tests for
clinical diagnostics. Genoptix continues to explore and develop new
applications.
Genoptix technology is ideally suited to the post-genomics
era, where the interaction of the cell's molecular design/make-up
(DNA, RNA and proteins) and specific cellular changes (growth, differentiation,
tissue formation and death) are of critical importance to the basic
understanding of health and disease.
Genoptix was formed in October 2000 and is located in
a 40,000 sq. ft. facility in San Diego. Genoptix has raised $22 million
to date in venture capital and currently employs 45 people (>40% PhD's).
Genoptix has developed an extensive Intellectual Property portfolio
with 24 patents pending covering instrumentation and related applications.
About the Speaker:
Philippe Marchand, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Optical Systems, Genoptix
Philippe
Marchand at the November 2002 OSSD Meeting.
(Photo by J.Menders)
In his position as Senior Director of Optical Systems
at Genoptix, Dr. Marchand oversees the design and engineering of the
Optophoresis™ instrument platforms. Prior to joining Genoptix, Dr.
Marchand was Project Director at OMM, Inc. from November 1999 until
November 2001 where he directed the 3D optical switch R&D effort.
From 1991 to December 1999, he was a Researcher at the University
of California, San Diego, where he was responsible for several R&D
efforts spanning various areas of optics such as optical system design;
computer aided simulation of optical interconnection systems and advanced
computer architectures using optical interconnections. Dr. Marchand
was also the co-founder of Parallel Solutions Inc., a company specializing
in advanced optoelectronic chip design and prototyping for various
defense applications. He received a M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering
from the Université de Haute Alsace, France. Dr. Marchand is an author
on over 130 journal and conference papers, and is the holder of several
patents.
OSSD host, Jim Leatham
(Photo by J.Menders)
