November 15 - Seattle - VizX Labs today announced the release of the GeneSifter Jumpstart microarray data analysis package for Affymetrix GeneChip users. The Jumpstart product provides microarray researchers with basic analysis of their microarray data, in the form of statistical reports, tools, and initial interpretation of biological data. It moves researchers past the hurdle of preliminary analysis, enabling them to pursue their research quicker and more efficiently than ever.

"We think Jumpstart is a very helpful product for our customers," said Affymetrix Senior Informatics Product Manager Jeremy Nickolenko. "It can help researchers move quickly past early hindrances that may slow their research. We're happy to be working with VizX Labs to support Affymetrix microarrays as the gold standard of the industry."

"The many researchers who use Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays will find Jumpstart to be very useful," added Dr. Eric Olson, VizX Labs Director of Science. "It is very easy to become bogged down in the early stages of data analysis, but Jumpstart brings researchers past that, to the point where they can begin to understand the biology behind their microarray data."

Each Jumpstart package provides a researcher with:

• A written report including statistical and biological analysis of their microarray data;
• Screenshot-based WebEx presentations that demonstrate exactly how the analysis was performed;
• Microarray data prepared for further analysis in the researcher's GeneSifter account by the GeneSifter science support staff; and
• Optionally, submission of their data to the GEO public data repository, a step that is required for publication in many journals

Scientists are already finding their research using GeneChip brand arrays made easier by GeneSifter, and Jumpstart takes that a step further. As Dr. Milan Fiala of the UCLA School of Medicine observes, "The GeneSifter science staff gave my research the jumpstart it needed, getting me through the bottleneck of initial data analysis quickly and easily."

About GeneSifter
GeneSifter is the accessible, Web-based microarray data analysis system for research scientists, which is now available from VWR International. GeneSifter helps researchers understand the biology™ underlying gene expression patterns as it helps them determine the statistical and biological significance of their data. Downloadable graphics, including screenshots of the GeneSifter Lab Edition, Core Edition and the new GeneSifter Jumpstart, may be viewed online at www.vizxlabs.com/downloadable_images.html.

About VizX Labs
VizX Labs' GeneSifter® software helps life scientists understand data from microarray experiments. Recently featured in Wired News and Nature Methods, GeneSifter is now bundled with all IBM computers sold by VWR International, the leading laboratory materials distributor. Selected as a Northwest Venture All-Star company and named by Bio-IT World as one of six "bioinformatics youngbloods" remaking that field, VizX was listed by Washington CEO as one of the state's top 25 biotechnology and biomedical companies. To view the VizX Labs newsroom, please visit www.vizxlabs.com/newsroom.html.

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