DermTech International: Breakthrough Technologies in Skin Science

EGIR is a non-invasive nucleic acid retrieval technology that relies on the use of a custom adhesive film to sample the upper layers of the epidermis. Sample processing results in the reproducible detection of specific biomarkers extracted from the harvested skin cells for use in gene expression analysis. Gene expression patterns can be used to monitor the effects of actives on the epidermis or to create "molecular profiles" of target diseases gene level.

- Rapid and easy to perform
- Non-invasive
- Painless
- Practical for virtually any skin surface

References (each publication can be viewed in PDF format by clicking on the links below):

    Morhenn et al. (1999) A non-invasive method for quantifying and distinguishing inflammatory skin reactions. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol., 41:687-92.

    Wong, R. et al. (2004) The use of RT-PCR and DNA microarrays to characterize RNA recovered by non-invasive tape-harvesting of normal and inflamed skin. J. Invest. Dermatol. 123:159 - 167.

For an editorial comment on the above article, please click on the link below:

    Nickoloff, B. (2004) Tape Stripping of Human Skin with a Molecular Twist. J. Invest. Dermatol., 123:vii-ix.

Epidermal Genetic Information Retrieval is covered under U.S. patent numbers 6,720,145 and 6,949,338