VOLLUM INSTITUTE DISCOVERY MAY UNLOCK HUMAN GENOME

Goodman laboratory devises technique to explain patterns of gene regulation Oregon Health & Science University-led development of a technique for identifying control elements that drive the expression of genes in brain cells could unleash the disease-fighting potential of the much-hailed human genome. Scientists at the OHSU Vollum Institute, which headed the multidisciplinary study appearing in the Dec. 29 edition of the journal Cell , are calling the approach a significant advance in understanding the genome. The Vollum’s director, Richard Goodman, M.D., Ph.D., said the technique could give a critical boost to the new era of genomic discovery set forth when the Human Genome Project was completed early last year. “The question was how to understand the enormous amount of genomic information that has been generated,” Goodman said. “Our approach will help unlock the regulatory control of the genome” and heighten understanding of the pathways behind genetic aberrations behind diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Dowload a copy of the Journal Cell article

Related Links View the press release View Richard Goodman's Faculty Page Cell Press Summary CREB Transcription In-depth Description CREB Transcription Overview Transcription Factor Q&A Richard Goodman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the OHSU Vollum Institute and professor of cell and developmental biology, and biochemistry and molecular biology, OHSU School of Medicine. Soren Impey, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurology, Vollum Institute and OHSU School of Medicine, and the study's lead author.