Through its work in the biological technology field, Austin-based Luminex is working with bone marrow donation organization Be the Match to promote bone marrow donation.

The company was the main sponsor in the 18th Annual Marrow Ambassadors Golf Tournament on Oct. 1. During the event, Luminex conducted a bone marrow donor drive using technology it created. Donors were entered into the Be the Match donor registry that will match donors to patients needing a bone marrow transplant.

"Being able to bring to life and affect people's lives in the way that we can is really inspiring," Luminex President and CEO Patrick Balthrop said.

Luminex is headquartered in Northwest Austin at 12212 Technology Blvd. and was founded in 1995. There are 614 employees spread among several offices worldwide, including in The Netherlands and Australia.

The company develops and manufactures biological testing technologies including a technology called multiplexing. Balthrop said multiplexing enables scientist to generate up to 500 different test results out of a single sample of a person's DNA.

By using Luminex's multiplexing technology, organizations like Be the Match can test people's marrow for the donor registry. Balthrop said before this technology was created, testing a person's bone marrow for donation involved directly sampling the marrow, which is a painful process.

"But these days, we can do a cheek swab," he said. "There's a significant amount of information gained in sampling. The quality of the results are still high."

Getting involved in the golf tournament and Be the Match was a natural progression, Balthrop said, because many Luminex employees have already participated in the program and entered into the registry.

The Be the Match Registry is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program. The organization helps patients with blood cancers such as leukemia and lymphoma find a marrow match, according to the organization's website.

Be the Match also allows interested donors join the registry online. Once registered, Be the Match will mail a kit for a donor to perform a cheek swab.

Other than supporting bone marrow donation, Luminex also supports the efforts of state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-District 14, who is pushing for a medical school in Austin. The golf tournament concludes with a program where Balthrop will discuss why Luminex supports this initiative. Balthrop said he hopes voters will support Central Health's proposed 5 cent tax increase because funds could be used for supporting a new medical school.

"With all the great investment in technology and the life sciences industries and all that comes along with it, bio sciences is poised to be the next great industry in Austin," he said.