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Columns::September 3, 2002
Three are named GUC undergraduate program directors
‘Bridges to the Doctorate’ NIH grant will support graduate education of minority students at UGA
Chick-fil-A Express holds grand opening at Tate Student Center
Mountain ecologist is appointed international education director
The burden of care: Study shows mothers’ depression affects children’s well-being
Managers complete training; Research Fellows announced
Campus Closeup
Writing wrongs
Retirees
Newsmakers
The Honduras Connection
Campus News
New NSF pilot project will produce ‘gene encyclopedias’
By Natasha Splaine
rcomm@ovpr.uga.edu
The National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation program has awarded a grant to UGA for a new initiative that will
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Andrew Paterson
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unite genetic research with economic growth. Aptly named Genes for Georgia, this effort will allow UGA scientists to map out genes of plants and animals important to Georgia agriculture and make this information accessible to regional agricultural and biotechnology industries. The total award is $600,000 for two years.
“This award will enable our scientists to explore genomes of high economic value,” says provost Karen Holbrook, who is the lead investigator on the award. Participation of a senior institutional administrator is an unusual requirement for this particular NSF program.
Genes for Georgia was conceived by UGA scientists Andrew Paterson, a professor of botany, genetics and crop and soil sciences, and Robert Ivarie, a professor of genetics, who will work to decipher the genetic codes of chicken and cotton, collecting this information into what they call “gene encyclopedias.”
This study will serve as a pilot project. Eventually the researchers want to create gene encyclopedias for each of Georgia’s top 10 agricultural commodities, which together have an estimated economic impact of nearly $15 billion a year.
“The encyclopedias themselves will represent the ‘spellings’ of a large number of genes in plants and animals that are commercially important to the state of Georgia,” says Paterson, who will be working on the cotton genome.
Using tissues from economically important commodities, such as cotton, peanuts or chickens, the scientists can extract and sequence DNA, discovering the “spelling” of each gene.
“Each one of these sequences becomes essentially a page in the gene encyclopedia, and these sequences identify the gene,” says Ivarie, who will sequence the chicken genome.
These pages will be compiled into an entire gene encyclopedia for that particular organism and then will be made Web-
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Robert Ivarie
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accessible with the help of computing and networking specialists. Bio-based companies could use this information to improve the quality and yield of their products.
Because transforming genetic research into economic growth requires private investment, small bio-based companies often can’t afford this costly research, making them unable to compete with larger, national companies.
“Smaller companies in the state really lack the resources to do this,” says Ivarie. “The idea here is to create the encyclopedias and make them available to small companies, Georgia farmers and geneticists who are working on trade improvements.”
Genes for Georgia scientists also will help Georgia’s bio-based industries interpret the genetic data. According to Paterson, the program has the potential to usher in a new era of innovation for these industries.
To stimulate interest among these industries, the program will include workshops to educate relevant businesses and stakeholders. The first of these workshops is scheduled for next summer.
“We hope it will be a demonstration project,” Paterson says. “We want to engage a community of stakeholders in Georgia’s bio-based industries and educate them on what can be learned from a gene encyclopedia.” |
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