Of Mice, Men and Microscopy
Two years into the process, the Indiana Genomics Initiative has
helped Indiana University and its School of Medicine substantially
strengthen their research potential by attracting new scientists,
funding new programs and acquiring the technology needed to advance
the initiative.
By September 2002, more than $25 million in new research grants
had been received with the assistance of INGEN programs and dollars,
and millions more were awaiting review by such agencies as the National
Institutes of Health. Following is an update on INGEN’s six
programs and nine supporting research cores.
Bioethics
INGEN’s bioethics program is part of the new IU Center
for Bioethics, which has conducted regular seminars for scientists,
students and the public, and frequently briefs reporters from news
media across the country. The center’s initiatives include
the new position of director of the Fairbanks Center for Medical
Ethics, an office created jointly with Clarian Health Partners;
a new endowed chair in pediatric bioethics; and a new fellowship
in pharmacogenomics ethics and public policy.
Bioinformatics
The bioinformatics program merges the power of computer technology
with the techniques of molecular biology and genome analysis. IUSM
officials are close to announcing a director of bioinformatics,
after successfully competing with other institutions and businesses
who are seeking the talents of the relatively few specialists in
this new field. Meanwhile, INGEN leaders are developing strategies
to integrate the many databases that are being created across IU
by life sciences researchers.
Education
INGEN’s Scholars Program has enabled the recruitment of outstanding
combined degree (MD, PhD) program students and has funded two years
of summer research stipends for undergraduate students.
Genomics
Under the leadership of director Kenneth Cornetta, MD,
newly appointed chair of the Department of Medical and Molecular
Genetics, the resources of the INGEN Genomics Program are helping
attract candidates for several new faculty research positions that
will build on the department’s decades of research and clinical
services.
Medical Informatics
The Medical Informatics Program builds on the resources of the Regenstrief
Institute and IU-based Regenstrief Medical Records System, one of
the world’s largest and oldest clinical medical databases.
Expansion of this system to include information from all Indianapolis
hospitals is under way. IU researchers also received a $1.04 million
grant to develop a new Indiana Program of Excellence in Biomedical
Computing.
Training
The growing needs of Indiana’s biomedical and healthcare
industry are a challenge INGEN has met with the establishment of
the Biotechnology Training Program. This two-year graduate program
advances the training of lab specialists and researchers and prepares
them for he ever-evolving field of biotechnology. The program’s
first students enrolled in the fall of 2002. In January 2003, the
program moves into its new home at the Biomedical Research and Training
Center in downtown Indianapolis.
Animal Models
Several animal cores support INGEN research. The rodent phenotyping
core is supporting collaborative work by IU and Stanford University
scientists studying the effects of long-term alcohol consumption
using the core’s genetically selected rats. The reproductive
biology/animal stem cell core is developing models using zebra fish.
The transgenic and knockout mouse and the Drosophila cores support
researchers using mice and fruit flies, respectively.
Cell and Protein Expression
Housed in the Biochemistry Biotechnology Facility, this
core has begun conducting large-scale protein expression and purification
projects for IU scientists whose research involves protein interactions
and other protein studies.
Genotyping and Gene Expression
IU scientists now can use this core to access the latest
microarray techniques, which measure the activity of thousands of
genes simultaneously. The core also enables researchers to detect
minute genetic variations called SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms)
that are important in disease and how people respond to drugs.
Human Expression
Faculty involved with this core are developing an informed consent
system for volunteer participants in research studies. This will
be crucial for proper archiving and use of human biological materials
for future genetic research.
Microscopy Imaging
Housed in the Indiana Center for Biological Microscopy, the INGEN
microscopy core provides state-of-the-art imaging capabilities to
IU researchers. With support from INGEN, a $5 million grant from
the National Institutes of Health brought a George M. O’Brien
Kidney Research Center facility here that will be a national resource
for renal imaging as well as a resource for IUSM faculty.
In Vivo Imaging
This core provides expertise and resources of the IU-based
Indiana Center of Excellence in Biomedical Imaging. New imaging
systems are enabling researchers to study behavioral, physical,
and chemical characteristics of higher level organisms, from mice
to humans.
Information Technology
Computing specialists in this core are helping IU scientists bring
the power of the university’s supercomputer systems to biomedical
research. For example, the core optimized software used by the Department
of Medical Genetics to study the genetic components of diseases,
cutting the time required to complete an analysis by seventy percent.
Proteomics
Just as genomics involves the study of the universe of genes, proteomics
is the study of the universe of proteins made by those genes. Proteomics
core operations at the School of Medicine and in the Department
of Chemistry in Bloomington have already worked on at least three
dozen research projects with university scientists.
Technology Transfer
The Indiana University Advanced Research and Technology Institute
identifies research discoveries that may be developed into commercial
products and protects such discoveries through the patenting process.
ARTI has begun development of a life sciences
business incubator in the Indianapolis biotechnology research park.
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