ADVANCE Fellows Award

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The completion of several genome sequencing projects has resulted in a wealth of new information that raises two major challenges: to discover the function of all the DNA sequences, and to organize functional data so that all life scientists can benefit from them. Different aspects of gene function are now being characterized at a genomic scale in a number of organisms. New tools that are widely accessible to the scientific community are needed to facilitate their integration and analysis. Development of such tools, which will require close collaboration between biologists and computer scientists, will help transform the rapidly growing volume of "functional genomic" data from information into knowledge that can be used to the broad benefit of both basic and applied disciplines of science research. The aim of this project is to develop new bioinformatics tools to help integrate functional data from diverse genome-wide studies. The soil nematode C. elegans has been used as an animal model system in genomic studies and provides an exceptional platform for the development of integrative tools. The initial focus will be development of a public database of gene knockout phenotypes generated in C. elegans using a rapid method called "RNA interference (RNAi)". These data will be used along with other genomic data, such as gene expression patterns and protein-protein interaction maps, to develop modular bioinformatics tools capable of addressing questions that combine these different "layers" of functional information from C. elegans and other organisms. Finally, these tools will be made accessible to non-programmers through development of a user-friendly interface for the integrated analysis of functional genomic data.