Xinjiang's first high-volume gene detection laboratory was built in Karamay Center Hospital on Feb 26.

Liu Weixing, director of the new laboratory, said it can provide services of noninvasive prenatal examination, neonatal genetic disease screening and cancer screening and risk assessment. The lab will also carry out gene technology services, genetic disease research, cancer susceptibility gene analysis, genetic counselor training, and other genetic data analysis for local hospitals and research institutions.

The laboratory was built by the Karamay Center Hospital, the Shanghai Biological Information Research Center and Xinjiang Hairui Beisi Biological Technology Co with an investment of 11 million yuan ($1.69 million), after two years' preparation.

Lacking a specialized gene detection laboratory, hospitals in Xinjiang used to collect patients' blood samples and have them tested in inland cities, which cost both time and money and risked polluting the samples. The newly-built laboratory will therefore be greatly convenient to residents in Xinjiang, according to Ding Guohui, founder of the Xinjiang Hairui Beisi Biological Technology Co.

Experts analyze genetic data at the high-volume gene detection laboratory in Karamay Center Hospital on Feb 26. [Photo/epaper.kelamayi.com.cn]

Edited by Peter Nordlinger