The David H. Murdock Research Institute has licensed Rosetta Biosoftware's entire software suite for translational research projects that involve "high performance -omics applications," the partners said this week.
The institute, based in Kannapolis, NC, will use the company's Rosetta Resolver system for gene expression analysis, Elucidator for proteomics and metabolomics analysis, and Syllego for genotyping analysis.
The software will be used to manage, analyze, share and visualize data and to merge public and proprietary content with the analysis of experimental data, the institute said. The software shares statistical algorithms, data views, and experimental description parameters, which, along with a "new data exchange gateway" between the Resolver and Syllego software, will help scientists "identify correlations between different types of -omic and clinical data," the organizations said.
DHMRI will use the software for its "namesake study," launched in 2008, called MURDOCK, or Measurement to Understand Reclassification of Diseases of Cabarrus and Kannapolis. The five-year study plans to enroll 50,000 residents from Cabarrus County and Kannapolis. To date, it has enrolled 547 people.
As part of the study, DHMRI researchers are integrating genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data from large cohorts of patients with clinical records to try to achieve a "deeper understanding and improved classification of disease states."
DHMRI was launched with the donation of a $35 million gift from David Murdock, the former CEO of Dole Food Company.
The North Carolina state legislature has also approved $16.5 million in funding to support work at public universities involved in the MURDOCK study, such as the University of North Carolina system. The study will also include clinicians, scientists, and bioinformaticists from Duke University and surrounding communities.