by Angela Guess

A new press release reports, “Adaptive Biotechnologies, a leader in next-generation sequencing (NGS) of T- and B-cell receptors of the adaptive immune system, announced today their partnership with Microsoft to map the genetics of the human immune system, or immunome, in order to detect cancers and other diseases in their earliest stage, when they can be more effectively treated. By combining Adaptive’s powerful immune sequencing technologies with Microsoft’s research and large-scale machine learning and cloud computing capabilities, the partners aim to create individual disease diagnostics and ultimately a universal diagnostic – all from a simple blood test. Under terms of the partnership, Microsoft has made a financial investment into Adaptive, in addition to bringing research and large-scale machine learning and cloud computing capabilities to the endeavor.”

The release goes on, “The immune system is nature’s most finely-tuned diagnostic as it routinely scans and reads any signal of disease – such as a cancer cell or an infectious agent – in the body, and holds the genetic code that can give insights into detecting these diseases. Adaptive and Microsoft are partnering to translate this genetic code into simple blood-based diagnostics that are broadly accessible to people around the world. ‘This announcement comes at a time of inflection in healthcare and biotechnology. We now have the technology to be able to do what we’ve been talking about for the past decade – develop a universal TCR antigen map that presents an opportunity to help patients at an unprecedented scale,’ said Chad Robins, President, CEO and Co-Founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies.”

Read more at Business Wire.

Photo credit: Adaptive Biotechnologies