MENLO PARK, Calif., July 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (Nasdaq:PACB) provider of the PacBio® RS High Resolution Genetic Analyzer, today announced the appointment of Jonas Korlach, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer. PacBio's previous CSO, Eric Schadt, Ph.D., will remain a key scientific advisor to the company in addition to his primary role as Professor and Chair of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and Director of the Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Dr. Korlach was previously Scientific Fellow at Pacific Biosciences, supporting commercial development of the PacBio® RS system and performing research aimed at developing new applications for Single Molecule Real-Time (SMRT®) technologies, such as DNA base modification detection recently launched by the company. He co-invented the SMRT technology with Stephen Turner, Ph.D., Pacific Biosciences Founder and Chief Technology Officer, when the two were graduate students at Cornell University. Dr. Korlach joined Pacific Biosciences as the company's eighth employee in 2004. Previously, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Cornell University. Dr. Korlach is the recipient of multiple grants, an inventor on 28 issued U.S. patents, and an author of numerous scientific studies on the principles and applications of SMRT technology, including publications in Nature, Science and PNAS. He received both his Ph.D. and his M.S. degrees in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology from Cornell, and received M.S. and B.A. degrees in Biological Sciences from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
"Jonas has played leading roles in the transition of the SMRT technology from proof-of-concept to commercialization for DNA sequencing, and we are delighted to recognize his contributions with this appointment," said Mike Hunkapiller, President and CEO at Pacific Biosciences. "We are grateful to Eric for his previous scientific leadership, and look forward to continuing to work closely with him in his roles as an advisor and collaborator to help shape the future of genetic analysis."
For more information about Pacific Biosciences, please visit www.pacb.com, or follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pacbio.
About Pacific Biosciences
Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. (Nasdaq:PACB) offers the PacBio® RS, a high resolution genetic analyzer, to help scientists solve genetically complex problems. Based on its novel single molecule, real-time (SMRT®) technology, the company's products enable: targeted sequencing to more comprehensively characterize genetic variations; de novo genome assembly to more fully identify, annotate and decipher genomic structures; and DNA base modification identification to help characterize epigenetic regulation and DNA damage. By providing access to genetic information that was previously inaccessible, Pacific Biosciences enables scientists to increase their understanding of biological systems.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may contain words such as "believe," "may," "estimate," "anticipate," "continue," "intend," "expect," "plan," the negative of these terms, or other similar expressions, and include the assumptions that underlie such statements. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's SMRT technology. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including but not limited to risks discussed from time to time in documents Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks identified under the section captioned "Risk Factors" in its recently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements are based on estimates, projections and assumptions as of the date hereof. Pacific Biosciences undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.