CORNELL UNIVERSITY AND GENE NETWORK SCIENCES AWARDED ARMY BIOREMEDIATION GRANT
| Contact: |  |
Debbie Pfeifer Gene Network Sciences (206) 282-5098 debbie@gnsbiotech.com |
Cambridge, MA – May 16, 2007 – Cornell University and Gene Network Sciences have been selected to receive a grant from the U.S. Department of the Army, entitled “Systems Biology of Dehalococcoides: Using Network Inference Modeling to Integrate Omics Datasets Under Varied Conditions.”
Three Cornell University professors, principal investigators Dr. Ruth Richardson, Dr. Stephen Zinder and Dr. James Gosset, along with GNS principal investigator Dr. Bruce Church, will lead a joint Cornell-GNS team to build computational models of Dehalococcoides, a type of bacteria used to dechlorinate toxic pollutants. Several such pollutants have contaminated groundwater throughout the developed world.
“While anaerobic microbes have shown promise in the bioremediation of sites polluted with chlorinated organics, the manner in which these organisms work is still not well understood,” said Dr. Richardson. “Our goal in studying Dehalococcoides using data-driven computational methods is not only to expand the understanding of how this particular organism works, but also to enable the use of several related organisms in bioremediation.”
Dr. Richardson’s team will conduct experiments to generate gene expression, proteomics, and other molecular-level data from Dehalococcoides subjected to various conditions. GNS will use its REFSTM (reverse engineering and forward simulation) software platform to help guide experimental design and to discover key biomolecular “gears in the machine” that drive the organism’s ability to dechlorinate toxic pollutants.
“What GNS technology brings to this project is its ability to rapidly integrate diverse data types to create causal and quantitative biological models,” said Colin Hill, CEO of GNS. “We look forward to partnering with Dr. Richardson and her colleagues at Cornell University as they continue their leadership in environmental remediation research.”
About Gene Network Sciences
Founded in 2000, Gene Network Sciences (http://www.gnsbiotech.com) is a privately held biosimulation company with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Ithaca, New York. The company’s REFSTM (Reverse Engineering and Forward Simulation) technology rapidly turns complex and heterogeneous data sets into cell and organ-level computer models able to simulate the clinical performance of drugs and drug candidates. By discovering how and why specific drug candidates impact human biology, GNS technology increases pharmaceutical companies’ confidence in advancing drug candidates and ultimately improves clinical trial success rates.