A fast-growing Detroit fertility laboratory that became a world leader in the business of screening embryos for birth defects has left the city for Plymouth.

Genesis Genetics Institute moved its headquarters and 32 employees from the Samaritan Center on Detroits east side to an office complex on South Main Street in Plymouth. The company this week announced the relocation, which happened in October.

The company was founded in Detroit in 2003 by its CEO, Dr. Mark Hughes, a former professor at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and pioneer in a type of genetic diagnosis, which involves the screening of embryos for potential birth defects or disease prior to an in vitro fertilization procedure.

In an interview Thursday, Genesis Genetics Managing Director Tony Gordon said the company outgrew its Detroit lab and offices and now has twice the space. The Plymouth site also is closer to Detroit Metro Airport and Ann Arbor and is an easier location for recruiting employees, he said.

Detroits a great city and it was a great location, but it was getting a little bit difficult to attract staff and things like that where we were, Gordon said in phone call from London, where Genesis Genetics has one of its eight branch laboratories.

In the news release announcing the move, Gordon said Genesis Genetics sought a location that would be inspirational for its workforce. The company did not receive any tax breaks or relocation incentives for the Plymouth move.

Our mission is to help couples build healthy families, he said. Plymouth is a quintessential American family town with concerts in the park, a multitude of family festivals, events and parades, and a bustling downtown replete with couples with young families. It just made sense.

Gordon said the company outgrew its lab space in the Samaritan Center and cited security concerns as another issue. The company considered other locations in Detroit, but did not find a suitable one.

Genesis Genetics is considered a world leader in pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and provides services to about 3,000 to 4,000 families a year.

It employs more than 100 researchers and staff in Michigan, Arizona, Argentina, Brazil, Jordan, South Africa, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.

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Genesis Genetics Institute fertility lab leaves Detroit for Plymouth

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