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AmberGen, Inc. is a development-stage Proteomics Company based in Waltham, Massachusetts. Dr. Kenneth Rothschild founded the company to develop tools for drug discovery and diagnostic assays based on in-vitro protein expression, photo cleavable linkers and novel labeling techniques. Several products are under development from this platform technology. The Molecular Therapeutics Division in Waltham allows the technology to be applied to rapidly validate genes in disease associated pathways using a focused systems biology approach. This will enable novel drug targets to emerge whose biological functions are known, leading to the development of cell based assays for the screening of lead compounds. As part of this discovery, the mechanistic role of disease associated SNPs within these genes are being resolved in an effort to determine their effect on diversity and drug interactions. The Division is focused on asthma, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease. The ELISA-based protein truncation test, the first such assay that allows rapid automated mutation detection, is doing well in validation trials. Applications are in screening for colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and other diseases where the mutation results in a truncated protein. A sensitive, cost-effective and high throughput system for detecting drug-resistant strains of HIV-1 virus is based on our proprietary cell-free protein expression inventions and mass spectrometry. Our diagnostic assay for in-vitro detection of food and environmental allergies and detecting infectious pathogens in laboratory animals only requires drawing a small amount of blood because of its micro-array design. AmberGen's protein-protein micro-array combines cell-free methods for rapid expression of specially engineered protein libraries with advanced technology for micro-array fabrication and readout. The first such array is based on kinase proteins and has applications in detecting interactions to map critical cell signaling pathways in the areas of autoimmune and infectious diseases. Photo Cleavable Mass Tags facilitates mutation/SNP detection at the DNA level with multiplex mass spectrometry readout. Applications are in biomarkers for disease detection and treatment monitoring. Photo Cleavable Isotope Coded Affinity Tags when used in conjunction with mass spectrometry allows changes in the abundance of specific proteins in a complex mixture to be identified and monitored. AmberGen has invented reagents useful for rapid isolation and labeling of proteins and DNA (PC-biotins, PC-amidites and FluoroTect tRNAs). Certain kits are sold through Promega and Glen Research. Funding has been provided by the National Institutes of Health through their Small Business Innovation Research grant program. AmberGen has fourteen issued patents, some of which are licensed from Boston University.