Research Project

Summary

The Human Genome Project documents the complete DNA sequence not only of humans, but of over 300 other organisms, with more to come. The next step is to turn this wealth of information into useful knowledge for application to medicine and biology.  This ‘functional genomics’ explores how genetic information in DNA directs all the workings of a living organism.

Advances in new fields of science - such as functional genomics - depend on new technology. This project sought to develop new techniques and measuring instruments for functional genomics and to apply them to basic research and clinical studies. The team’s focus was on a new technology called DNA micro-arrays, which accurately and sensitively measures the read-out from each individual gene in any organism. In order to improve this technology, the team brought together experts in biology, computer science, engineering, and informatics to work in one of the world’s largest programs of micro-array production and analysis, at the University Health Network.

The project team’s technical developments in DNA micro-arrays include miniaturization to make experiments cheaper and easier, automation of micro-array fabrication, new robots, more rapid data collection, and more reliable results. One of its robot designs is now sold commercially. The team has improved array design through use of computational algorithms, made storage and recovery of data more efficient, and developed better ways to compare its data with others’.  It has begun to use micro-arrays to study the expression of genes in children's leukaemia, ovarian and prostate cancer, cancer of the kidney, and heart disease. The team currently provides DNA micro-arrays, training, and support to over 300 research laboratories in 27 countries.

Fast Facts

• Highlighted outcome: A robot design that is now sold commercially.
• Number of research personnel: 40.
• Number of peer reviewed publications:  44 plus 1 book, 3 book chapters, and 87 invited presentations.
• Resources generated: 5 new devices, 1 reagent, and 1 diagnostic marker; tens of thousands of DNA micro-arrays for researchers in Canada and abroad.
• Number of public outreach events:  22, including lectures, newspaper, magazine and TV articles, and public lectures.

Notable Publications
Barrios-Rodiles M, Brown KR, Ozdamar B, Bose R, Liu Z, Donovan RS, Shinjo F, Liu Y, Dembowy J, Taylor IW, Luga V, Przulj N, Robinson M, Suzuki H, Hayashizaki Y, Jurisica I, and Wrana JL. 2005.  High-throughput mapping of a dynamic signaling network in mammalian cells. Science. 307(5715):1621-5.

Iscove NN, Barbara M, Gu M, Gibson M, Modi C, and Winegarden N. 2002.  Representation is faithfully preserved in global cDNA amplified exponentially from sub-picogram quantities of mRNA. Nat. Biotech.  20(9):940-3.   

Brown KR and  Jurisica I. 2005.  Online predicted human interaction database. Bioinformatics 21(9):2076-82.

Heisler LE, Torti D, Boutros PC, Watson J, Chan C, Winegarden N, Takahashi M, Yau P, Huang TH, Farnham PJ, Jurisica I, Woodgett JR, Bremner R, Penn LZ, and Der SD. 2005.  CpG Island microarray probe sequences derived from a physical library are representative of CpG Islands annotated on the human genome. Nucleic Acids Res. 33(9):2952-61.

Coles JG, Boscarino C, Takahashi M, Grant D, Chang A, Ritter J, Dai X, Du C, Musso G, Yamabi H, Goncalves J, Kumar AS, Woodgett J, Lu H, and Hannigan G. 2005.  Cardioprotective stress response in the human fetal heart. J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 129(5):1128-36.