A three-year-old Silicon Valley start-up, Counsyl Inc., won the Bronze Innovation Award for its simple, low-cost genetic test that can alert prospective parents who might be carrying genes that could cause hereditary diseases in their children.

Counsyl's technology promises a 'high quality-of-life impact for families at risk for conceiving children with familial diseases,' says Larry Bock, an Innovation Awards judge and special limitedpartner at venture firm Lux Capital. 'This technology bundles previously existing capabilities but with more elegance, access and affordability.'

Proponents of universal prepregnancy genetic screening make a bold claim: If these tests were widely available, they could significantly reduce, and possibly eliminate, hereditary diseases. Parents who discovered that they carried the genes that would put their children at risk for these diseases could pursue other alternatives -- adoption or in vitro fertilization, for example. Widespread screening also could reduce infantmortality; 20% to 30% of infant deaths are caused by genetic illnesses.

Until recently, however, most genetic tests covered only one disease at a time, required a blood sample and cost between $500 and $1,000 each. So both their use and their usefulness were extremelylimited. Most prepregnancy genetic testing was performed for one of only a few diseases and only for certain ethnic groups, such as the screening for Tay-Sachs disease offered since the early 1980s to Jewish parents.

Counsyl, based in Redwood City, Calif., has devised a single test that covers more than 100 genetic disorders, including Tay-Sachs, cystic fibrosis and spinalmuscular atrophy. The saliva-based test costs about $350, and the cost typically is covered by most private insurance.

The company uses a customized microarray -- essentially a lab on a chip that can simultaneously test for lots of genetic variations at a time -- and sophisticated statistical software to hunt for the presence of disease-causing mutations in genes. For the disorders it covers, the test is at least as accurate as common single-disease tests, the company says.

Counsyl was founded by a group of Stanford University alumni who were interested in using genetics to promoteminority health. A test for multiple conditions, they saw, could have a big impact.

Counsyl's lab received regulatory approval in the spring of 2009. The test was introduced in some clinics in May of last year and became nationally available last October.

Michael Totty

• valley [´væli] n.谷；河谷；流域 (初中英语单词)
• partner [´pɑ:tnə] n.伙伴 v.同....合作 (初中英语单词)
• venture [´ventʃə] n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词)
• universal [,ju:ni´və:səl] a.宇宙的；普遍的 (初中英语单词)
• available [ə´veiləbəl] a.可用的；有效的 (初中英语单词)
• pursue [pə´sju:] v.追赶；追踪；从事 (初中英语单词)
• infant [´infənt] n.&a.婴(幼)儿 (初中英语单词)
• sample [´sæmpl, ´sɑ:mpəl] n.样品；试样 vt.尝试 (初中英语单词)
• extremely [ik´stri:mli] ad.极端地；非常地 (初中英语单词)
• accurate [´ækjurət] a.准确的；精密的 (初中英语单词)
• promote [prə´məut] vt.促进；发扬；助长 (初中英语单词)
• bronze [brɔnz] n.青铜(器) (高中英语单词)
• limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)
• previously [´pri:viəsli] ad.预先；以前 (高中英语单词)
• access [´ækses] n.接近；通路；进入 (高中英语单词)
• eliminate [i´limineit] vt.消除；淘汰 (高中英语单词)
• adoption [ə´dɔpʃən] n.采用；收养 (高中英语单词)
• jewish [´dʒu:iʃ] a.犹太人(似)的 (高中英语单词)
• muscular [´mʌskjulə] a.肌肉的；强有力的 (高中英语单词)
• minority [mai´nɔriti] n.少数(民族)；未成年 (高中英语单词)
• approval [ə´pru:vəl] n.赞成，批准，认可 (高中英语单词)
• prospective [prə´spektiv] a.预期的；未来的 (英语四级单词)
• hereditary [hi´reditəri] a.遗传的；世袭的 (英语四级单词)
• widespread [´waidspred] a.广布的；普遍的 (英语四级单词)
• mortality [mɔ:´tæliti] n.致命性；死亡率 (英语四级单词)
• essentially [i´senʃəli] ad.本质上，基本上 (英语四级单词)
• simultaneously [,siməl´teinjəsli] ad.同时，一起 (英语四级单词)
• innovation [,inə´veiʃən] n.改革；革新；创新 (英语六级单词)
• impact [´impækt] n.影响，作用；冲击 (英语六级单词)
• elegance [´eligəns] n.优雅；优美；精美 (英语六级单词)
• usefulness [´ju:sfəlnis] n.有用(性)；有益(性) (英语六级单词)
• spinal [´spainl] a.脊椎骨，脊骨的 (英语六级单词)
• alumni [ə´lʌmnai] n.alumnus的复数 (英语六级单词)