Collaboration
July 22 2002 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:8924Y
Genetix Group PLC
22 July 2002
UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00.01 UK TIME
Genetix and the MRC Human Genome Mapping Project Resource Centre Form
Collaboration to Build a Verified Human Protein-Protein Interaction Map
- Project to be funded under DTI/MRC LINK Programme in Applied Genomics -
London, Cambridge and New Milton, 22 July 2002 - One of the UK's largest studies
into the role of proteins in health and disease was announced today. Under the
LINK Programme in Applied Genomics, Genetix Group plc (LSE: GTX) in New Milton
and the Medical Research Council's Human Genome Mapping Project Resource Centre
(MRC HGMPRC) in Cambridge have formed a £2.5m collaboration. The project is
being funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Medical Research
Council and Genetix.
The three year collaboration aims to develop equipment and systems that will
dramatically speed up the process of identifying the role of proteins in human
health and disease by generating maps showing how different proteins interact
with each other to perform important biological functions in the body.
Genetix is a leading provider of robots and systems for molecular biological
research. Its robotics were used in most of the major public and private
laboratories involved in the Human Genome Project and for post-genomic research.
The MRC HGMPRC is one of the leading UK centres for functional genomics
research, which aims to advance medical research through the science of
simultaneous analysis of thousands of genes.
Following the international effort to map and sequence the human genome, first
completed in 2000, scientists now estimate that it contains at least 30,000
genes, which provide the instructions for making up the human body. The primary
role of these genes is to encode proteins, the smallest building blocks of life,
which make up the cells in the body and enable them to function.
The role of proteins is now seen as the next key step in turning the information
gathered during the human genome sequence project to practical use in the
diagnosis and treatment of disease. Different proteins give each cell its
differentiated characteristic. For a cell to function, proteins within the cell
need to interact with each other, forming complex networks of interacting
proteins that regulate genes or cellular processes such as division and
replication.
The LINK Award will fund the development of instrumentation and systems required
to map these interactions to gain a better understanding of how proteins
function. The project will initially use yeast as a medium, later switching to
mammalian cells so that the protein interactions can be validated in humans.
This knowledge will be used by scientists and researchers throughout the world
to:
• advance the understanding of how proteins interact to perform complex
biological processes
• identify the causes of disease
• develop novel drugs against specific protein targets
To measure interactions between the protein products of the estimated
30,000-50,000 genes would generate approximately one billion data points.
Existing techniques, performed by hand, are slow and cumbersome producing many
false positives and negatives. The expectation is that the new system will
relieve bottlenecks in the study of protein interactions by increasing the
throughput 1000 times.
Dr Julian Burke, Scientific Director of Genetix, said:
"The LINK funding will combine leading MRC molecular biologists with Genetix'
expertise in creating solutions for high-throughput biology. Our skills in
systems integration, software development and microbiology will allow us to
produce high specification applications. This will enable the mapping of
thousands of human protein-protein interactions to be undertaken with a high
degree of accuracy and in considerably less time than is currently possible,
helping to bring forward the medical benefits of this knowledge."
Dr Duncan Campbell, Director of the MRC HGMPRC, emphasised the importance of the
collaboration:
"This partnership between Genetix and the MRC will provide UK researchers with
an outstanding opportunity to play a significant part in a world wide initiative
to build maps which show how human cells work. An overwhelming amount of
information has been produced by mapping the human genome but it will only be
fully useful with a manual or 'map' to help us understand how the component
parts work to complete the whole."
Dr Chris Sanderson, Project Coordinator at the MRC HGMPRC, added:
"The importance of these maps to medical research is indisputable, but the
challenge facing researchers is to make maps that are comprehensive and
accurate. This can only be achieved by developing new technologies, which allow
us to investigate many different types of protein-protein interactions faster.
This funding has enabled us to bring together all of the necessary expertise to
help us succeed."
Lord Sainsbury, Science and Innovation Minister, said:
"This grant awarded under the DTI's LINK Applied Genomics programme will help
Genetix to enhance their leading position in the provision of systems for
genomics and proteomics research worldwide and potentially lead to new
treatments in the battle against disease.
The project should also provide a valuable protein interaction resource to the
UK research community through Genetix' LINK collaborators at the MRC Human
Genome Mapping Project Resource Centre at Hinxton. I wish Genetix and the MRC
HGMP-RC every success with this challenging and important project."
Enquiries:
Genetix Group plc MRC HGMRC
Julian Burke, Scientific Director Dawn Duncan
Tel: +44 (0)7798 610016 Tel: +44 (0) 20 7637 6011
Gary Corsi, Finance Director
Tel: +44 (0) 1425 624600
Financial Dynamics
Jonathan Birt / Sarah Mehanna
Tel: 020 (0) 7831 3113
Notes to Editors
LINK Awards
The LINK Programme in Applied Genomics is the largest Biotechnology LINK
programme, with £15m funding from the DTI, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences
Research Council and MRC, to be matched by equal funding from industry.
Launched in July 2000, it has recommended funding 15 industrial/academic
collaborative projects, 14 of which involve at least one SME. The projects
cover a wide range of aspects of applied genomics, including human, pathogen and
model organism research, proteomics, bioinformatics, clinical projects and
genome screens. www.appgen.org.uk
Medical Research Council
The Medical Research Council is a national organisation funded by the UK
tax-payer and has funded work which has led to some of the most significant
discoveries and achievements in medicine in the UK. About half of the MRC's
expenditure of over £367 million is invested in its 50 Institutes, Units and
Centres, where it employs its own research staff. The remaining half goes in the
form of grant support and training awards to individuals and teams in
universities and medical schools. www.mrc.ac.uk
MRC Human Genome Mapping Resource Centre
The MRC Human Genome Mapping Project Resource CentrePRIVATE is a national
facility funded by the Medical Research Council and carries out research in
functional and comparative genomics. It provides a bioinformatics service and
access to leading edge resources and services to researchers worldwide.
www.hgmp.mrc.ac.uk.
Genetix Group plc
Genetix Group plc provides automated systems and services for genomic and
proteomic research. It supplies many leading academic institutions world-wide
including the Max Planck Institute and major international companies involved in
the drug discovery process including GSK, AstraZeneca and Novartis. Genetix made
a significant contribution to the Human Genome Project by supplying
high-throughput equipment to seven of the leading eight laboratories of the
consortia. Genetix through its R&D expertise and scientific resource is
committed to the continual development of innovative solutions to accelerate the
rate of global scientific discovery. Genetix is quoted on the London Stock
Exchange and is based in New Milton, Hampshire, UK. www.genetix.com
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