Advance in developing biological strategies to produce hydrogen and sequester carb...( otential biothreat agents which is impo...)

Abraham also announced that he is creating a special subcommittee of the department's Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee to conduct a thorough review of IBEA's research and to recommend ways to accelerate this research and identify the full range of potential benefits to energy missions as well as other areas of vital importance. The new subcommittee will be chaired by Dr. Ray Gesteland, vice president of research and professor of genetics at the University of Utah.

DOE's Genomes to Life program aims to use the department's unique computational capabilities and research facilities to understand the activities of single-cell organisms on three levels: the proteins and multi-molecular machines that perform most of the cell's work; the gene regulatory networks that control these processes; and microbial associations or communities in which groups of different microbes carry out fundamental functions in nature. Once researchers understand how life functions at the microbial level, they hope to use the capabilities of these organisms to help meet many of our national challenges in energy and the environment. The program will combine research in biology, engineering and computation with the development of novel facilities for high-throughput biology projects. More information on the Genomes to Life program is available at www.doegenomestolife.

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Contact: Jeff Sherwood
jeff.sherwood@hq.doe.gov
202-586-5806
DOE/US Department of Energy
13-Nov-2003