WASHINGTON--The US Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research announced that it is seeking new applications in genome instrumentation for both substantial evolutionary improvements in current systems and revolutionary technologies for the post-2005 era. The office said it aims to stimulate contributions from investigators not previously involved in the Human Genome Program, and that it invites applications from a broad range of scientists with backgrounds in biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering.
The office said DOE's transition to production sequencing based largely on gel electrophoresis, with data acquisition by laser-induced fluorescence, does not decrease the necessity for innovative long-term basic research in the area of instrumentation in support of genome studies.
The office announced that it is refocusing its current Genome Instrumentation Program, and said that to complete the human genome within the available budget and time, substantial improvements in existing sequencing methods would be advantageous.
After 2005, the ongoing need will be for fast, cost-effective determination of DNA sequence to compare sequences among human individuals and also to determine the genomes of numerous organisms of biomedical and commercial interest, the office reported. For more information, see Program Notice 98-16 and companion Notice LAB98-16 at http://www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html.