HitachiSoft Develops Software for Automatic Identification of Repeat DNA Sequences

DNASIS® AutoTyper speeds up research into disease genes and other applications including analysis and cultivar improvement for agriculture and livestock

TOKYO, January 30, 2008 - HitachiSoft today announced that it has developed new DNASIS® AutoTyper software that enables automatic identification of repeat DNA sequences1 from biological test data. The innovative new software is part of HitachiSofts DNASIS® series of solutions for bioinformatics, and enables precise and automatic identification of repeat DNA sequences, which researchers have had to manually identify until now.

Research into human disease genes is an important area of medical research that involves the comparison of repeat DNA sequences in healthy subjects and affected patients, in order to identify genetic differences between the groups. Due to the presence of noise in test data obtained from study results, the process has been reliant on veteran researchers whose extensive knowledge and experience enables them to manually distinguish correct data from noise, in what has been a very laborious process.

HitachiSofts new DNASIS® AutoTyper software represents a significant step forward from traditional manual identification of repeat DNA sequences, by leveraging data mining technology to enable automatic identification of data. In addition to its application for research into human disease genes, DNASIS® AutoTyper can be used for a broad range of industrial applications including analysis and cultivar improvement for agriculture and livestock to ensure food safety and security. HitachiSoft will release systems that incorporate DNASIS® AutoTyper software and are optimized for analysis of repeat DNA sequences.

1. Features of DNASIS® AutoTyper
● Significantly reduces labor, time and costs required for identification of repeat DNA sequences.

● Produces accurate and consistent identification results, without dependency on the knowledge and experience of users.

● Can be used for genetic research into diseases such as lifestyle-related disease and constitutional issues such as obesity, and for promoting better health through DNA-based diagnosis.

● Speeds up research and reduces the cost of research into bacteria and viruses, and the infectious diseases they cause.

● Secures food safety through the analysis of agriculture, livestock and marine products, to prevent mislabeling of the place of origin.

● Improves the stable supply of foodstuffs through cultivar improvement of agriculture, livestock and marine products.

● Accelerates individual identification for applications such as forensic medicine, and increases the consistency of identification results.

3. Overview of Development Project for DNASIS® AutoTyper

The methodology for automatic identification of repeat DNA sequences used by DNASIS® AutoTyper was developed based on work pioneered by the Genome Diversity Project2, which was jointly implemented by HitachiSoft and the Japan Biological Informatics Consortium (JBIC)3 from 2000 to 2006.

The calculation methodology from which DNASIS® AutoTyper® is modeled on was tested during JBICs research into rheumatic genes and found to produce an average 94% identification rate4 for microsatellite DNA, a form of repeat DNA sequence. The calculation method also reduced the time needed for identification by as much as 50% compared with manual identification.

The promising results spurred HitachiSoft to functionally enhance the calculation methodology by leveraging the companys advanced expertise and experience, resulting in the release of DNASIS® AutoTyper.

Operating Environment

DNASIS® AutoTyper® runs on Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems.

How DNASIS® AutoTyper® Works

1Repeat DNA sequences are used in DNA analysis to identify matches in specific basic sequences of DNA.

2Japan Biological Informatics Consortium (JBIC):

Chairman Tadashi Hirata, Advisor to Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Address 10F TIME24 Building, 2-45 Aomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8073

Established November 1998 JBIC established as voluntary association.

July 2000 Japan Biological Informatics Consortium (JBIC) established.

3The Genome Diversity Project was implemented from 2000 to 2006 to collect genetic polymorphism information from Japanese subjects relating to model diseases such as diabetes and cancer. Information obtained through the project was used to establish a database of model diseases, and to prepare analytical software for statistical genetics.

4Reference: Novel algorithm for automated genotyping of microsatellites. Nucleic Acids Research, 2004, Vol. 32, No. 20: 6069-77

Press contacts:

Toru Takehashi, Miki Takano

Corporate Communications, CSR Division

Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd.

Tel: +81-3-5780-6450

Fax: +81-3-5780-6455

Email: press@hitachisoft.jp

*Windows and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States.

*DNASIS is a registered trademark of Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd.

*AutoTyper is a trademark of Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd.

*Other company names and product names are the registered trademarks and/or trademarks of the respective companies.

*The official name for HitachiSoft is Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd.