Genome Engineering
The core of PetMedix’s Ky9™ and Felyne™ platforms are the transgenic mice we use for antibody discovery.
expertise and know-how
Our Ky9 and Felyne mice have had the dog or cat antibody genes carefully transplanted in to the exact location that they belong within the mouse genome. This means that not only are our mice healthy and unaffected by the genetic substitution, but that we can harness the intricacies and complexities of an intact immune system – something that no artificial system or protein engineering project can come close to matching. By keeping antibody discovery in vivo, it ensures that mature antibodies are produced that have already been biologically selected for their ability to be used as effective therapeutics.
Developing these platforms is a significant undertaking, but one made possible thanks to the expertise and know-how of PetMedix scientists. The genome engineering team is headed by Dr Andreas Marquardt, who has been working with the antibody loci and transgenic mice across a long and successful career. As less work has been carried out on the genomes of dogs and cats compared to humans or mice, one of the roles of the genome engineering team is to ensure we have a complete and accurate picture of these critical genomic regions. Once the regions have been identified, bacterial artificial chromosomes that contain the genes of interest are precisely modified, and then inserted into the genomes of mouse progenitor cells. From these cells, the mice are generated and can form the basis of our antibody discovery engine.
Our Teams
What sets us apart at PetMedix are the teams we have built and what they are able to achieve.
Click through below to learn more about each of our six core groups:
