Top researchers at the University of Oregon have received $1 million in new research funding from the W.M. Keck Foundation to apply the study of genomics to the progression of cancer. The new genomics science research is being led by Hui Zong of the UO Institute of Molecular Biology and William Cresko of the UO Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
The three-year project aims to study the ways in which cancer cells genetically mutate and adapt to their surroundings. The data gathered in this new cancer research could lead to new early diagnostic techniques for cancer.
The research will bring together new biology research techniques developed in Zong and Cresko's labs. Their research will be aided by new RAD genome sequencing techniques developed at UO (read more in our UO genome sequencing report) and will look at cancer as an "evolutionary process."
(image courtesy of the UO Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)
The medical community has known that cancer develops as a result of numerous genetic mutations before it is visible as a massive burst of cell proliferation. However it has been impossible to use this knowledge to diagnose cancer before it begins to grow. The UO researchers hope to change this. Zong and Cresko hope to identify cancer before it even exists by looking at the genetic mutations that will cause it to develop in the future.
The project will analyze the genetic makeup of several precancerous cells of the common, yet deadly, glioma brain cancer. Through this analysis the researchers hope to identify specific genetic markers that reveal whether a cell will spark a cancerous growth or not. Although the science research project will begin by focusing on brain cancer Zong and Cresko believe that it can easily be applied to many different types of cancer. The new genomics research at UO could revolutionize the field of cancer diagnostics.
If you are interested in learning more about genomics and cancer research at the University of Oregon, attend Biotechnology Calendar, Inc.'s BioResearch Product Faire™ Event at UO on October 11, 2011. This event will provide an excellent place for Oregon Area researchers to network with each other and local science professionals and to meet with leading research equipment suppliers on campus. For information about exhibiting at this upcoming event, please click on the button below.
What early detection methods are you researching?