| Gregor Mendel is regarded as the father of modern | | | | finalising the design, and then implementing |
| genetics owing to his study of the inheritance of | | | | manufacturing and quality processes so the product is |
| certain traits in pea plants. His experiments led him to | | | | produced reliably every time. |
| make two generalisations, the Law of Segregation | | | | RO: What is the products WOW factor? |
| and the Law of Independent Assortment, which later | | | | PL: The Spartan DX-12 is the first desktop DNA |
| became known as Mendel's Laws of Inheritance. | | | | analyser that is fast, affordable, and easy to use. |
| Since his discovery however, the world of DNA has | | | | Fast results are enabled by our proprietary |
| undergone growth and significant development. | | | | technology around fast thermal cycling and chemistry |
| In recent times, DNA testing is the process employed | | | | optimisation. Affordability is enabled by the low-cost |
| to assist in the identification of individuals on the basis | | | | design and our expertise in low-cost manufacturing. |
| of their respective DNA profiles. In 1984 Alec | | | | Ease of use is due to smart industrial design and |
| Jeffreys introduced a technique for DNA | | | | hundreds of hours of user testing and feedback. |
| fingerprinting to identify individuals and subsequently, | | | | RO: The Spartan DX-12 is designed to test smaller |
| in 1985 Genetic fingerprinting entered the courtroom. | | | | samples and to deliver on demand results any time |
| In 1992 The US Army began collecting blood and | | | | and anywhere. What is your vision for its future? |
| tissue samples from all new recruits as part of a | | | | PL: In the same way that blood glucose meters are |
| "genetic dog tag" program aimed at better | | | | now accessible to everyone, we believe that |
| identification of soldiers killed in combat. DNA testing | | | | point-of-care DNA devices will enable on-demand |
| has also been used in parental testing and criminal | | | | results in fields such as infectious disease, veterinary |
| cases such as rape and murder. | | | | diagnostics, food and water safety testing, and |
| The most pressing issue in DNA testing is the | | | | personalised medicine. |
| creation of faster, more accurate methods of | | | | RO: How do you see the product developing in the |
| analysing DNA samples. On Demand DNA, which is | | | | future? |
| also known, as Rapid DNA Testing is a new technique | | | | PL: The Spartan DX-12 is about the size of a |
| that guarantees a change in the speed of DNA | | | | shoebox. Future versions will be small enough to |
| analysis and testing. | | | | carry in your pocket. |
| Speaking about this recent development in the field | | | | RO: A recent press release from Spartan Bioscience |
| of DNA is Dr Paul Lem of Spartan Bioscience. Rachael | | | | announces a collaborative agreement with a Canadian |
| Olajide engages with him in an interview where he | | | | based diagnostics company. The goal is to deliver |
| shares his thoughts about an idea whose time has | | | | DNA testing to the developing world. How will this be |
| come. | | | | achieved? |
| RO: At the age of 30 you set up Spartan Bioscience. | | | | PL: The collaborative agreement is with a company |
| What motivated you to do this? | | | | based in South Carolina called Cooperative |
| PL: During my residency training in Infectious Disease | | | | Diagnostics. Cooperative is supplying the test kits for |
| and Medical Microbiology at the University of Toronto, | | | | diseases suchas HIV, malaria, and Chagas disease. |
| there were many times when I wanted a rapid DNA | | | | Spartan is supplying the desktop DNA analysers |
| test result. But the mainframe DNA analysers in the | | | | RO: What do you think is the role that Bioscience has |
| central lab were only set up to run samples in | | | | to play in the future of modern medicine? |
| batches. It could be days or weeks until you got | | | | PL: The future of medical diagnostics is DNA testing. |
| your result. To solve this problem, I decided to start | | | | Spartan is helping to bring about the future with its |
| Spartan Bioscience and commercialise desktop DNA | | | | end-to-end systems for on-demand DNA testing. |
| analysers for on-demand testing. | | | | RO: Looking back at where you started your career, |
| RO: Talking about Spartan Bioscience, tell us more | | | | studying at the University of Toronto and Ottawa |
| about the organisation. | | | | and where you are now. Where do you think that |
| PL: At Spartan, one of our strengths is rapid product | | | | you will be in another 10 years from now? |
| development and low-cost manufacturing. We have | | | | PL: Ten years from now, I hope I will have |
| developed these capabilities thanks to our | | | | contributed to bringing about point-of-care DNA |
| management team of experienced executives. Many | | | | devices and personalised DNA testing. |
| of them come from the high-technology industry and | | | | RO: How does it feel to be named amongst those |
| have valuable expertise in areas such as lean product | | | | who are advancing modern medicine and science? |
| development and lean manufacturing. | | | | PL: I am proud of our team at Spartan Bioscience for |
| RO: Talk us through the Spartan DX-12 from idea | | | | inventing the first desktop DNA analyser for |
| generation to commercialisation and launch. | | | | on-demand testing. It reminds me of the quote from |
| PL: Coming up with the idea is the easy part. The | | | | Victor Hugo: "Nothing is as powerful as an idea |
| hard part is the process of building prototypes, | | | | whose time has come." And the time has come for |
| getting customer feedback, iterating the prototypes, | | | | rapid DNA testing to transform medical diagnostics. |