Firefly BioWorks awards $120K in grants for microRNA Rresearch

(Nanowerk News) Firefly BioWorks announced today the awarding of $120,000 in twelve research grants to scientists working to expand the frontiers of microRNA research. The Firefly Frontiers Grant is designed for scientists looking to profile large numbers of samples over multiple microRNA targets. The company received many strong applications from leading academic institutions across a wide range of research topics.
“Our decision to award a larger number of grants than originally planned was made in response to the quality of the applications we received, from leading researchers at universities such as Harvard, Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Yale and others, on a variety of topics ranging from cancer to neurodegenerative disorders,” said Davide Marini, CEO of Firefly BioWorks.
Winners of the Firefly Frontiers Grant will use award funds towards the purchase of FirePlex™ miRSelect products and services. FirePlex™ miRSelect is a cost-effective multiplexed assay for microRNA expression analysis, allowing up to 68 user-selected microRNAs to be analyzed simultaneously. miRSelect scales easily from small discovery experiments to large clinical validation studies because samples are processed in parallel using a convenient 96-well plate.
Firefly BioWorks will profile the winning applications on its website in the coming months and will work closely with the winners to ensure their projects are completed successfully.
About Firefly BioWorks
Firefly BioWorks was founded to commercialize an innovative, open approach to multiplexed detection of biomolecules. The company’s flagship product, FirePlex® miRSelect, enables high-throughput and targeted microRNA profiling by flow cytometry. The product is also available as a service.
Source: Firefly BioWorks