NIH Issues RFA for the Development of High-Resolution Probes for Cellular Imaging
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Human Genome Research Institute this week issued a Request for Applications to support multi-investigator teams to develop new technologies to enable high-sensitivity molecular detection in living cells.
The purpose of RFA GM-08-009 is to encourage and facilitate the development of novel, high-risk strategies to create fundamentally new probes with enhanced spectral characteristics, with the goal of improving detection schemes by a factor of 10 to 100. Parallel improvements in probe targeting, cellular delivery, and signal detection are also encouraged.
The ultimate goal will be to develop probes and delivery strategies that can be used routinely to achieve single molecule sensitivity for imaging dynamic processes within living cells.
The participating institutes intend to commit approximately $5 million in FY 2008 to fund six to eight multi-investigator R01 grants, each with a budget for total direct costs of up to $500,000 per year.
Responses to this RFA can be submitted between Dec. 14, 2007, and Jan. 14, 2008.
More information about the RFA is available at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-GM-08-009.html.
Millipore Gives $500K to HSCI
Millipore last week announced that it has awarded a $500,000 research gift to the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.
The gift, made through the Millipore Foundation, will support the HSCI Seed Grant Program, which provides early funding for innovative projects in any field of stem cell research.
BioProcessors Expands Mass. Operations, Launches SimCell Services
BioProcessors this week announced the expansion of its Woburn, Mass., operations and the launch of its new SimCell Services offering.
A second SimCell System was recently installed as part of an expanded laboratory and training wing at BioProcessors' Woburn facility.
SimCell Services are customized service offerings tailored to meet specific cell culture application requirements of BioProcessors' clients. The company provides access to SimCell technology through a hosted cell culture development project, which can range in scope from a simple screening experiment to more comprehensive production clone selection, clone stability, media optimization, or process development experiments.
Salk Institute, MarburgUniversity Join Thermo's RNAi Global Initiative
The Salk Institute for Biological Sciences and the University of Marburg have joined the RNAi Global Initiative, Thermo Fisher Scientific said this week.
Thermo Fisher described the initiative as an effort to pioneer whole-genome RNAi screening and to develop common research standards and share information to advance RNAi gene-silencing techniques.
The Salk Institute for Biological studies is expanding its genome-wide screening center, which will study cancer, metabolism, aging, and basic and applied neurobiology, systems biology, and plant research, Thermo Fisher said.
A researcher at the University of Marburg will study the MYC oncogene, which plays a role in many human cancers. The Marburg research will include whole-genome siRNA screening to hunt for gene targets that may assist in developing cancer drugs.
The RNAi Global Initiative now counts 23 research institutions in 11 different nations among its members, Thermo Fisher said.