Program Snapshot
The Common Fund's Building Blocks, Biological Pathways, and Networks program is designed to develop new technologies for studying molecular events that comprise biological pathways and networks in cells in order to catalyze studies of normal and disease-related processes. The program consists of three initiatives:
- National Technology Centers for Networks and Pathways (TCNPs)
- Metabolomics Technology Development
- Standards for Proteomics and Assessment of Critical Reagents for Proteomics
Program Highlights
New approach allows for a greater understanding of how genomes are organized in cells
Genomes, contained within chromosomes, encode the hereditary information inside each of our cells. The Human Genome Project, completed in 2003, was a large scale effort to decode the full DNA sequence from humans. While this was a milestone in modern technology, we have now come to understand that in addition to the sequence, the three-dimensional conformation of the genome plays a fundamental role in the expression of genes.
Fluorescent Probes to Shed Light on Biological Function
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University working in the Fluorescent Biosensors for Networks and Pathways center have created a new class of genetically expressed fluorescent protein fusions, called dyedrons, that may be used to study biological functions of single molecules within cells. The report appears in the J of the American Chemical Society (PMID20698676. Aug 18, 2010. Vol. 132:11103-11109).View the funded research...
Currently Funded National Technology Centers
Fluorescent Biosensors for Networks and Pathways,
Carnegie-Mellon University/University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)
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