OrthoSystems is a biotech spinoff of Syracuse University. Funded by research contracts from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), EPA, DHS, NYSTAR, Syracuse Center of Excellence and NY Indoor Environmental Quality, it has been developing the chemical equivalent of an antibody, called an aptamers, from strings of DNA. As with an antibody, aptamers* binds to its target disease or contaminant protein. It has successfully developed aptamers for HIV, the blood clotting factor, and the human growth factor. OrthoSystems is now perfecting a technique to quickly develop an aptamer for any desire target, including targets made by terrorists. It has been granted one patent and has five pending.
These aptamers will then be used to detect which of thousands of diseases and contaminants are present in a sample of water, blood, saliva, air or food in real time using an inexpensive handheld device. These aptamers will also be used to screen 100,000 drugs candidates a day to see which may be useful as new drug
candidates for a particular disease. The aptamers may become drugs themselves.
OrthoSystems intends to develop aptamers for other research facilities, and to develop, manufacture and sell detection devices. It is in its seventh year of at the Center for Science and Technology Building on the SU campus with an office
in Niskayuna, NY. Peter E. Kent, President 518-393-3783
* Aptamers, a nucleic acid, are useful in biotechnological and therapeutic applications as they offer molecular recognition properties that rival that of the commonly used biomolecule, antibodies