NY pilot study pushes Human Genome Project toward cures f...( With the completion of the Human Geno...)

With the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) in sight, a group of New York City scientists are undertaking a strategic pilot study to turn that knowledge into promising drug targets as quickly as possible. Dubbed the "structural genomics initiative," the study focuses on proteins that cause disease in humans, as well as those that are used in treating disease. It advocates using recent advances in computational biology to increase the speed at which these proteins are analyzed and categorized.

"We are embarking on a program, which, if proven effective, will provide a way for researchers to come to grips with the impending flood of genetic data and speed its translation into therapeutic use," says Andrej Sali, assistant professor, Alfred P. Sloan research fellow and Sinsheimer scholar at The Rockefeller University. "The initiative is aimed at developing a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of human and microbial physiology at the molecular level. This strategy should lead us to medically relevant data more quickly."

Sali will discuss the initiative at a symposium scheduled for 3 p.m on Sunday, Feb. 20, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park (Cotillion Ballroom South, Mezzanine Level) in Washington, D.C. He formulated the proposal along with Richard M. and Isabel P. Furlaud Professor Stephen K. Burley, Patrick E. and Beatrice M. Haggerty Professor John Kuriyan and Assistant Professor Terry Gaasterland, all of Rockefeller University, and colleagues at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

The HGP is often portrayed as an end in itself, but most scientists recognize that its completion represents only a starting point from which to ask questions about other biological processes. While genes carry the "blueprints" for life, proteins perform th
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Contact: Joe Bonner or Jim Stallard
bonnerj@rockvax.rockefeller.edu
212-327-7900
Rockefeller University
19-Feb-2000