Study to help solve health problems by understanding gene, protein behavio...( BLACKSBURG Va. March 7 2002 Underst...)

BLACKSBURG, Va., March 7, 2002 Understanding the genes and proteins that underlie the behavior of cells is similar to trying to figure out how a VCR works without an instruction manual, said John Tyson, University Distinguished professor of biology at Virginia Tech.

Faculty members in Virginia Techs Departments of Biology and Computer Science are working together to take part in a new $50-million multidisciplinary, multi-university program called BioSPICE: Simulation Program for Intracellular Evaluation. Sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the program is intended to create computer software for modeling the genes and proteins that underlie cellular behavior. The eventual goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying such processes as bacterial contamination, jet lag, and wound healing.

DARPA is supporting approximately 15 groups around the country working toward that goal in four basic areas: model kernel, experimental evaluation, software development, and software integration. The Virginia Tech Consortium has been awarded $1.65 million for three years to study cell-cycle regulation by mathematical modeling, experimental analysis, and computer simulation.

The modeling group is trying to create accurate, reliable mathematical representations of the molecular mechanisms controlling DNA replication and cell division. The team includes Tyson and Kathy Chen at Virginia Tech, Bela Novak at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, and several students. The experimental group, which is testing and refining the models in the laboratory, is directed by Virginia Techs Jill Sible, a biologist who studies frog eggs, and by yeast geneticist Fred Cross (Rockefeller University) and biochemist Michael Mendenhall (University of Kentucky Medical School). The software-development group consists of Virginia Tech computer scientists, led by Layne Watson, Cliff Shaffer, and Naren Ramakrishnan, who a
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Contact: John Tyson
tyson@vt.edu
540-231-4662
Virginia Tech
7-Mar-2002