Circulomes
Recent work from our group shows that the repertoire of circular DNA (or as we coined, the Circulome) varies as a function of tissue type and health and disease- even within the same individual. This important discovery highlights the powerful impact the Circulome can play as a fingerprint of disease. It is clear that technologies that can unbiasedly isolate all circular DNA from any biological source, in addition to highly sensitive and rigorous informatic toolkits that can detect the slightest shifts in the Circulome, are needed to define the Circulome. Such platforms are technologically challenging but absolutely necessary to detect the slightest shifts in the Circulome and attribute causal elements to specific disease at the earliest sign.
Cancer Application:
Despite the fact that these circular DNAs drive various pathologies, including cancer-driver and drug-resistance genes in at least 40% of human cancers, technological challenges have impeded focused efforts on these elements. Our work shows that the repertoire of circular elements varies with disease and pathological state. Therefore the “circulome” is an invaluable diagnostic marker, a fingerprint for disease, and can be a novel target for new therapeutics.
We are poised to be the leader in circular-DNA-based diagnostics and therapeutics, employing these DNAs to advance human health and to fill a major gap in the current picture of human genome and disease
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash
In addition to early detection of cancer drivers & identification of new therapeutics, circular DNA has a multitude of applications ranging from immunogenomics, to microbiome and drug resistance.
We are the only team with exclusive patented technologies and the unique capacity to unbiasedly isolate, characterize, sequence, and informatically analyze ALL circular elements (of all sequences, topologies, and sizes) and attribute specific diver circular DNAs to the pathology they are causing.