Applied Biosystems Announces Award Recipients Of SNP Genotyping Grant Program
Applied Biosystems Group, an Applera Corporation business, announced that Rajinder Kaul, Ph.D., Scientific Coordinator, University of Washington Genome Center, Seattle, WA, is the primary recipient of the Applied Biosystems $250,000 SNP Genotyping Grant. The program was originally announced on February 13, 2003. Three supplementary grant recipients were also selected.
Dr. Kaul will receive a grant from Applied Biosystems based on his research proposal to employ a novel method to directly determine complete patterns of DNA sequence variation from a total of thirty chromosomes covering a one-megabase region surrounding the gene that is mutated in cystic fibrosis on human chromosome 7. This effort is expected to provide an extraordinarily rich picture of the patterns of DNA sequence variation that occur between individuals using an approach that complements efforts underway by the International HapMap Project.
Dr. Kaul will receive up to $250,000 in Applied Biosystems products for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping based on the needs of the proposed project. These products may include the Assays-on-Demand(tm) products – ready-to-use, functionally validated assays for nearly 130,000 human SNPs, or instruments for SNP-based genotyping, including Applied Biosystems Sequence Detection Systems, which enable detection of SNPs using the fluorogenic 5′ nuclease assay with TaqMan reagents.
“I am pleased to have received the SNP genotyping grant,” said Dr. Kaul. “I believe that our approaches to genotype and identify sets of cloned DNA fragments that capture detailed patterns of sequence variation from multiple individuals over megabase lengths of genomic sequences will greatly facilitate understanding genetic variation in the cystic fibrosis gene region in particular and genomic regions in general. Such long-range genetic variation studies will be important to build models regarding the evolutionary history and population structure of regions in the genome.”
The review committee selected three additional proposals for supplementary grants. The supplementary grants, which will consist of a set of Applied Biosystems SNP genotyping products or services to help support each respective project, were awarded to: •Dawn Richardson, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow from the laboratory of Chris Jenkinson, Ph.D., Department of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, TX. Dr. Richardson’s proposal was for a project designed to genotype 500 SNPs in 1,000 individuals of Mexican-American descent in order to map a region of human chromosome 6 that has been linked to the development of adult-onset diabetes mellitus in this population. Dr. Richarson hopes to identify a gene or genes associated with this important medical condition. •Stephen Sawcer, M.B., Ch.B., a Clinician Scientist from the laboratory of Alastair Compston, Ph.D., Neurology unit, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. His project is designed to identify genetic factors influencing the development of multiple sclerosis. Through a collaborative effort, entitled GAMES (Genetic Analysis of Multiple Sclerosis in EuropeanS), more than 5,000 multiple sclerosis patients have been screened and a number of microsatellite marker alleles associated with the disease have been identified. High throughput SNP genotyping approaches will be used to identify DNA sequence variants in specific genes. •Sue Rutherford, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow from the laboratory of Alan Shuldiner, Ph.D. in the Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, University of Maryland, School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD. Dr. Rutherford’s proposal was for a study designed to identify a gene associated with hypertension that has previously been mapped to human chromosome 2 in individuals of Old Order Amish descent – a genetically homogeneous founder population. The project will use high throughput SNP genotyping to perform fine-mapping of a one megabase region associated in DNA samples from more than 3,500 individuals from well-characterized clinical populations of diverse ethnic origins. It is expected that DNA sequence changes will be identified that are associated with the development of hypertension.
“We were delighted by the volume and high quality of responses we received for our SNP Genotyping Program,” said Dennis A. Gilbert, Ph.D., Vice President, Genomics for Applied Biosystems, and non-voting chair for the SNP Genotyping Grant Review Committee. “As a result, we expanded the grant to help support three additional projects in addition to our primary grant winner. We hope that these grants will help spur research advances in these important therapeutic areas.”
The external reviewers for the applications were: •David Botstein, Ph.D., Stanford University •Kenneth Kidd, Ph.D., Yale University •John Richards, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology •Stefan Schreiber, M.D., University of Kiel •John Todd, Ph.D., University of Cambridge