Sonalee Laboratory
In September 2000 the Sonalee Laboratory was opened at St George’s University of London. It is equipped with a WAVE nucleic acid fragment analysis system and an ABI sequencer, which enables the research team to screen patients and their families for mutations (gene errors) in the Marfan gene.
The laboratory was named after Dr Sonalee Wijetunge, a St George’s Hospital graduate, who died from Marfan syndrome.
This laboratory receives samples from U.K. families, and has achieved an enviable 91% success rate in mutation detection in classic Marfan syndrome. The gene mutation is different for each family. Once identified, it can be used for diagnostic screening of at-risk family members, so that preventive therapy can be offered at the optimum time, thus improving the quality and quantity of life expectancy.