COMPANY BACKGROUNDThe 'pinwheel technology' was discovered in 2009 in the Landers Microfluidics Laboratories in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Virginia as a previously undescribed phenomenon observed when magnetic particles interacted with DNA while exposed to a rotating magnetic field. It resulted from a search for a more effective means of carrying DNA extraction in a microfluidic device to be used for molecular diagnostic (genotyping) assays of overlapping interest to Landers and clinical researchers in the University of Virginia Health System’s Department of Pathology. After demonstrating the application of the pinwheel effect to both generic and sequence-specific DNA detection TeGrex Technologies was incorporated as a spin-out from the University of Virginia Innovation Ecosystem, and has licensed the necessary intellectual property to commercialize pinwheel-based assays. TeGrex Technologies is headquartered in Charlottesville in close proximity the University of Virginia.
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