Today, Affymetrix, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFFX) announced plans to make eight new GeneChip® plant and animal genome arrays available in 2005 as part of its Consortia Program, including canine, Rhesus macaque, Medicago truncatula (legume), Brassica, tomato, citrus, poplar and sugar cane. More than 20 research presentations at this week's Plant and Animal Genome Conference XIII in San Diego, California feature Affymetrix arrays launched in 2004 under the Consortia Program.

Some of the studies being presented include:

• Dr. John Cushman who monitored environmental stresses in the wine grape
• Dr. Matias Kirst who studied SNP effects in expression analysis of diverse species using an early prototype of the maize array
• Dr. Brett Tyler who studied transcriptional profiling of Phytophthora sojae infection of the soybean plant

The Affymetrix GeneChip Consortia Program is a collaborative initiative that enables the plant and animal research communities to consolidate their sequence data on the Affymetrix industry-standard GeneChip brand platform. In 2004 Affymetrix worked closely with global research communities to launch eight plant and animal genome arrays: Vitis vinifera (grape), soybean, wheat, rice, maize, bovine, chicken, and porcine.

"By underwriting the design fees required to produce these new arrays, Affymetrix is putting GeneChip technology within reach of virtually any research community," said Lianne McLean, Director, Gene Expression Marketing at Affymetrix. "We had great success with this program last year. By providing the plant and animal community groups with a single, standardized platform for gene expression research, they can easily compare results, build reliable databases and move science forward more quickly."

Affymetrix Consortia Program arrays are developed using the same reliable design and manufacturing process that have made Affymetrix the industry-standard technology for gene expression analysis. Over the past ten years more than 3,000 papers have been published using GeneChip technology.

Affymetrix scientists invented the world's first high-density microarray in 1989 and began selling the first commercial microarray in 1994. Since then, Affymetrix GeneChip® technology has become the industry standard in molecular biology research. Affymetrix technology is used by the world's top pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology companies as well as leading academic, government and not-for-profit research institutes. More than 1,000 systems have been installed around the world and nearly 3,000 peer-reviewed papers have been published using the technology. Affymetrix' patented photolithographic manufacturing process provides the most information capacity available today on an array, enabling researchers to use a whole-genome approach to analyzing the relationship between genetics and health. Affymetrix is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., with manufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif., and Bedford, Mass. The company maintains important sales and marketing operations in Europe and Asia and has about 900 employees worldwide.

Affymetrix, the Affymetrix logo, and GeneChip are registered trademarks owned or used by Affymetrix, Inc.