DR. CHRISTOPHE ECHEVERRI NAMED ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP YOUNG INNOVATORS BY TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, MIT’S MAGAZINE OF INNOVATION  

Dr. Echeverri To Be Honored September 24 – 25 at
The Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT  

Dresden, Germany - September 24, 2003. Cenix BioScience, the premium research service provider specializing in genome-based high throughput applications of RNA-mediated interference (RNAi), today announced that Dr. Christophe Echeverri, CEO/CSO and lead founder of Cenix BioScience has been named to the 2003 list of the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, MIT’s Magazine of Innovation. The TR100, chosen by the editors of Technology Review and an elite panel of judges, consists of 100 individuals under age 35 whose innovative work in technology has a profound impact on today’s world. Nominees are recognized for their contributions in transforming the nature of technology in industries such as biotechnology, computing, energy, medicine, manufacturing, nanotechnology, telecommunications and transportation. 

Dr. Echeverri is being recognized for his pioneering work in establishing the feasibility of systematic, high throughput applications of RNAi, a powerful new gene silencing technology, to probe gene functions on a genome-wide scale. Working initially in the laboratory of Prof. Anthony Hyman at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg, Germany), Dr. Echeverri co-directed a team with Dr. Pierre Gönczy to demonstrate the genome-scale application of RNAi in the nematode worm C. elegans, identifying new genes needed for animal cell division (Nature: 408:331, 2000). Hyman and Gönczy then supported Dr. Echeverri in 1999 as co-founders of Cenix BioScience, the Dresden, Germany-based biotechnology company that Dr. Echeverri has since led to further explore and develop the potential of RNAi-based functional genomics, using several experimental systems from C. elegans to cultured human cells. His efforts over the last 4 years to drive the development of this technology have contributed to its emergence as arguably the most powerful new functional genomics tool available today. As such, RNAi now holds the promise to fulfill the full potential of the Human Genome Project by elucidating the roles of thousands of genes in disease related processes, thereby accelerating the development of new therapeutics and diagnostics to combat those diseases.  

TR100’s unparalleled panel of judges includes: 

• Vinton Cerf, WorldCom Corporation
• David Tennenhouse, Intel
• Dr. Gordon Bell, Microsoft
• Christina Lampe-Onnerud, TIAX
• Stephen Quake, California Institute of Technology
• Rodney Brooks, MIT CSAIL
• George Whitesides, Harvard University  

“Innovation and technological change are essential to worldwide economic growth. Now, more than ever, it’s important to recognize that there is no one technology driving the next wave of success, but rather several that, when fused together, will create another era of significant change for our society. The members of this year’s TR100 hail from fields such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, wireless, energy, computing and medicine. Each is actively developing the emerging technologies that we feel will profoundly impact our world in the century ahead," said Robert Buderi, editor-in-chief of Technology Review.  

Dr. Echeverri will be honored September 24 – 25 at The Emerging Technologies Conference at MIT. The event features keynotes, panels and breakout discussions on the transformative technological innovations that have the potential to fuel new economic growth and dramatically change the future. Speakers include Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Computer Corporation; Jeffrey R. Immelt, Chairman of the Board and CEO of General Electric; Bob Metcalfe, Founder of 3Com Corporation and General Partner at Polaris Venture Partners; and Nathan Myhrvold, Ph.D., Managing Director of Intellectual Ventures and former CTO of Microsoft Corporation. More information on ETC2003 can be found at www.etc2003.com. 

About Technology Review Inc.
Technology Review Inc., an MIT Enterprise, delivers essential information about emerging technologies on the verge of commercialization. Since 1998, paid circulation for the company's magazine, Technology Review, has more than tripled, climbing from 92,000 to 315,000. Combined with its signature events, newsletters, and online businesses, Technology Review reaches over a million senior technology thinkers and influencers – including venture capitalists, chief scientists, MIT alumni and students, researchers, senior corporate executives, investors, and innovators – throughout the world each month. Please visit the magazine’s web site www.technologyreview.com for more information. 

About Cenix Bioscience GmbH
Cenix BioScience offers premium research services specializing in genome-based high throughput applications of RNA-mediated interference (RNAi). Founded in 1999 from pioneering work in RNAi screening, Cenix combines high content analyses with proprietary genome-wide RNAi libraries for use in key experimental systems including human cells, Drosophila and C. elegans. Cenix is now making its unique expertise accessible to academic and industry researchers through a wide range of fully customized research services. Please visit the company’s web site www.cenix-bioscience.com for more information. 

About RNAi
RNA interference, or RNAi, is a powerful new approach for achieving targeted gene silencing of disease-associated genes using double stranded RNA (dsRNA) as the triggering agent. Discovered in 1998, this technology has been shown to work in a wide range of animal models, and was voted the top scientific achievement of 2002 by Science Magazine. RNAi is a naturally occurring, highly catalytic gene regulation system, thought to have evolved primarily as a defense mechanism against molecular pathogens. Used as a research tool and potential therapeutic, RNAi offers an unprecedented combination of:  

• High potency, specificity and scalability,
• Wide cross species applicability,
• Excellent experimental reproducibility.  

As a result, RNAi has rapidly become the new method of choice, replacing conventional antisense and ribozyme technologies, to determine gene functions for a wide range of biomedical applications.  

Contact:
For Dr. Christophe Echeverri (CEO/CSO of Cenix BioScience):
Ellen Fuerst, Public Relations, Cenix Bioscience GmbH, Tel. +49-351-210-2511, fuerst@cenix-bioscience.com  

For TR100 and Technology Review:
Kristen Collins, Technology Review, Tel. +1-617-475-8010, kristen.collins@technologyreview.com