University of Aarhus, Denmark
Aims:
This workshop is
designed to cover specific topics within the broad range of applied functional
genomics. In spite of solid progress in sensitive, robotic methods for high
throughput analysis with identification of numerous targets, there are huge
gaps in our knowledge for real logical therapeutic protein design. We plan to
evaluate critically the state of the art position in the following selected
topics:
Background:
After the sequencing of the human genome, functional genomics is increasingly important for the success of companies' genomics-based drug discovery and development efforts. It is not enough to know sequence information in order to utilize genomics to develop breakthrough drugs and diagnostics. One must also understand how genes and their products work, how they interact in pathways within the cell and the organism, and what roles they play in health and disease.
As a result, drug discovery researchers are in a "post-genomic", functional genomics era. Functional genomics aims to discover the biological function of particular genes, and how sets of genes and their products work together in health and disease. In its broadest definition, functional genomics encompasses many traditional molecular genetic and other biological approaches. In addition, functional genomics has come to be used to describe high-throughput approaches to whole-genome or system-wide molecular genetic studies. Many leading pharmaceutical companies are making or have made major investments in this field, often partnering with small genomics and biotechnology companies that are developing functional genomics platform technologies.
A possible definition is the development and application of global (genome-wide or system-wide) experimental approaches to assess gene function by making use of the information and reagents provided by structural genomics. Thus functional genomics is characterized by high throughput or large-scale experimental methodologies combined with statistical and computational analysis of the results. The fundamental strategy in a functional genomics approach is to expand the scope of biological investigation from studying single genes or proteins to studying all genes or proteins at once in a systematic fashion. Computational biology will perform a critical and expanding role n this area. Whereas structural genomics has been characterised by data management, functional genomics will be characterised by mining the data sets for particularly valuable information. Functional genomics promises to narrow rapidly the gap between sequence and function and to yield new insights into the behaviour of biological systems.
In this respect the central belief embedded in functional genomics is that the complete sequence of the genomes of many organisms, including humans, will change the way we do biology towards a more holistic view of biological systems which is significantly different from the classical idea of investigating "one (or a few) gene at a time".
The Workshop:
The workshop is planned to have five sessions and two supplementary plenary lectures for the discussion of specific major elements of functional genomics.
In the first session "High Throughput Technologies" examples will be given by leading researchers in the field. A critical discussion is planned to evaluate the state of the art in the application of high throughput microarrays etc. We wish the participants to realise the advantages, drawbacks, and possible improvements in such technologies.
The second session concerns Bioinformatics, an essential underlying research activity for giving credence to characterising and determining the possible useful applications of the platform technologies used in the field.
The third session on protein profiling or commonly called "Proteomics" can be considered as the main theme of the workshop since both plenary lecturers overlap with the session give evidence of expertise in applying results to medical problems. Here we use the definition decided at a US National Research Council Hearing where some of us participated. Thus the most useful definition of proteomics is likely to be the broadest: proteomics represents the effort to establish the identities, quantities, structures and biochemical and cellular functions of all proteins in an organism, organ, or organelle, and how these properties vary in space, time and physiological state. Proteomics is thus a huge, long-term task, much more involved than sequencing the genome.
The fourth session is an attempt to discuss briefly the current hot topic of "Epigenetics" since the importance to developing organisms of epigenetic events are more and more being realised to be involved in development and disease. Included in this session will be not just damage to DNA and proteins in gene regulation but also knock down of genes.
Ageing research
is now entering the post-genomic era. During recent years, a long list of genes
has emerged that associate with various models of ageing in humans. The task
now is firstly to evaluate the importance of these genes, mainly isolated from
in vitro models, with respect to normal ageing and secondly to understand the
functions of these genes and how they affect the process of ageing. Furthermore,
we now accept the idea of the plasticity of lifespan. In his new concept, the
emerging topic of epigenetics contributes of the order of 75% to the aging process.
The fifth session will discuss the scientific progress and future possibilities
in this important topic.
Venue:
University of Aarhus,
Denmark
August 20-23, 2004
Speakers and Programme:
Friday 20 August
18.00-18.10 Welcome
18.10-19.00 Plenary speaker (Julio Celis)
19.00-20.30 Welcome reception
Saturday 21 August
09.00-12.30 High
Throughput Technologies
Joern Kock
Ulf Landegren
Olli Kallioniemi
Joerg Hoheisel
14.00-18.30 Bioinformatics
Soren Brunak
Alfonso Valencia
Rolf Apweiler
Wang Jun
Sunday 22 August
09.00-12.30 Protein
Profiling/Proteomics
Mike Taussig
Peter Roepstorff
Anne-Claude Gavin
Zeng Rong
14.00-18.30 Epigenetics
(the RNA world)
Wolf Reik
Cenix
Bertrand Friguet
Juri Rappsilber
Lars Bolund
Monday 23 August
09.00-12.30 Ageing
and Age-related Diseases
Claudia Franceschi
Yang Huanming
Olivier Tousssaint
Registration:
See Workshop Website for registration details. Early registration deadline - 20 June 2004.