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In this issue...
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HGP and the Private Sector
HGP Milestones
In the News
Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues
Web, Publications, Resources
Funding
Meeting Calendars & Acronyms
Seven new grants, four of them awarded to scientists at DOE sites, are key components in the Structural Genome Initiative started by the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). Over the next decade, the new study will determine the form and function of thousands of proteins.
"These awards demonstrate the continued importance of the physical sciences to life-science research and the strong role the national laboratories play in providing expertise and world-class facilities in our quest to understand the structure and function of genes," noted Dr. Mildred Dresselhaus, Director of the DOE Office of Science.
Proteins come in many sizes and shapes, and their functions often depend on tiny structural details. Obtaining the 3-D structure may help scientists understand how each protein functions normally and how faulty structures can cause or contribute to disease. We expect this effort to yield major biological findings that will improve our understanding of health and disease, said NIGMS Director Marvin Cassman in announcing the grants. These data also can help in designing drugs that bind to the proteins and affect their activity.
The grants total around $4 million each for the first year. NIGMS plans to spend about $150 million on the seven grants over the next 5 years. The four DOE-involved projects are listed first below. Investigators at DOE national laboratories also are involved in some of the other projects.
Grant Recipients, Team Leaders, Specific Goals
The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v11n1-2).
The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.
Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.