Biotech Firm Gets Plague Grant

Perlegen Sciences said it received a biodefense partnership grant award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to analyze the genomes the bacteria that causes plague. Though the company did not disclose the size of the grant, the life science website Genomeweb reported the first year of the grant at $1.66 million. Mountain View-based Perlegen will analyze the genomes of approximately 150 strains of Yersinia pestis and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. Yersina pestis is the agent that causes plague and Perlegen hopes to identify the genetic variations that distinguish it.

San Francisco Business Times (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2005/04/04/daily10.html)