College's genomic science arsenal
As scientists around the world race to map plant and animal genetic codes, N.C. State University researchers have a new tool to help them make sense of the data contained in those maps.
The Bioinformatics Research Center, opened March 6 on Centennial Campus, draws upon the fields of computer science, statistics and molecular biology to help researchers analyze and manage massive amounts of data in ways that elucidate the roles that different genes play. Such information is regarded as key to future discoveries in treating diseases, enhancing the environment and improving plant and animal agriculture.
The center is in the same building, Partners II, as the Genome Research Laboratory. Launched last year, the genome lab has the capacity to sequence more than 5 million chemical bases of DNA each week.
The bioinformatics center will focus on developing the theoretical tools for managing and interpreting such data — on searching for patterns and meaning that lie within an organism’s DNA.
The center and the lab are key components in the university’s genomic science initiatives, including new graduate programs in functional genomics and bioinformatics. Established in 1999, these programs have already enrolled 40 master’s and doctoral students.
Both the bioinformatics center and the genome lab are at the heart of what university officials hope will become Centennial Campus’ “biotechnology neighborhood,” where private industry and the university will work together.
The center’s director is Dr. Bruce Weir, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Statistics and Genetics in the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
As with the genome lab, the bioinformatics center is a partnership of those two colleges, plus the colleges of Engineering and Natural Resources.
In conjunction with the center’s opening, the university hosted a day-long symposium featuring some of the world’s top genomic scientists. The event was capped by the Statistics Department’s annual Cockerham Lecture, honoring the late Dr. C. Clark Cockerham, a pioneer in the field of quantitative genetics and director of N.C. State’s quantitative genetics program for 30 years.
Dr. Eric Lander, director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Whitehead Center for Genome Research, discussed the human genome project and genomic research’s future. A blizzard in the Northeast kept Lander from attending the day’s festivities, but he lectured live via satellite to industry scientists and university students and faculty gathered at the McKimmon Center.
— Dee Shore
