NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - News that Orchid BioSciences was selected to provide DNA testing for a large-scale, Canadian pork traceability program sent the biotech's shares more than 8 percent higher Tuesday.

The traceability program, a joint venture between Toronto's Maple Leaf Foods Inc. and Chicago-based Pyxis Genomics, will allow Canadian pork to be traced back to the farm where the meat originated.

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"Recent incidents involving mad cow disease in North America and ongoing issues with possible meat contamination are increasing demands for measures to ensure the safety of all major meat products," Orchid's CEO Dr. Paul J. Kelly said in a press release. "We see this need as representing an important high-growth commercial opportunity for Orchid that we are well-equipped to address."

Orchid has been working with the British government for approximately two-and-a-half years to test sheep for scrapie, a degenerative disease similar to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and has tested nearly 1 million sheep through the program.

The company in late December announced it would expand its meat-testing capabilities in light of the first confirmed case of BSE, or mad cow disease, in the United States.

Shares of Orchid BioSciences (ORCH: up $0.15 to $1.94, Research, Estimates) were selling at nearly six times their 52-week low of 33 cents.