3DGENOME Program news

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3dgenome program should lead to a breakthrough in our understanding of

how our genome functions

News-Medical.Net 17-Jun-2004

Under the EU Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) for Research and

Development (2002-2006) 2.2 million Euros have been awarded to the

3DGENOME-research program. FP6 is one of the world's largest research

programmes, with a budget of 17.5 billion Euros, of which around 3

billion Euros is available for life sciences research. The main

objective of the 3DGENOME program is to understand how the human genome,

consisting of a number of very long DNA molecules that carry our genetic

information, are coiled up inside our cells. By changing the way that

DNA is folded, cells control the switching on and off genes, which are

the units of genetic information. Results will help to understand errors

in our genetic system that for instance result in tumour formation. The

research program is conducted by a consortium of seven European partners

and is coordinated by the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences of the

University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

The human cell orchestrates the activity of its about 35,000 genes in an

extremely efficient and reliably way. These genes are bits of

information on DNA. Each of our cells contains DNA molecules with a

total length of 2 meters, folded inside a cell nucleus of only 1/100th

of a millimetre diameter. This is comparable to packing 20 km of thin

wire inside just a tennis ball. Evidently, the DNA thread is extremely

folded inside a cell. This folding plays an important role in how a cell

switches genes on and off, thereby deciding how the cell behaves.

Folding decides whether a cell becomes a skin cell, a liver cell or a

neuron, and whether a cell is healthy or sick.

The 3dgenome program should lead to a breakthrough in our understanding

of how our genome functions. Using advanced microscopic techniques in

combination with novel data analysis software, the consortium of

European scientists intend to establish a three-dimensional map of the

DNA fibre inside the human cell. This spatial structure will be related

to patterns of switched off and stitched on genes along the DNA

molecule.

Since it is very likely that the three-dimensional organisation of

genomes is the same for all animals, the 3DGENOME program, in addition

to human cells, incorporates studies on cells from the mouse and from

fruit flies, two well-studied organisms. Each of these organisms has

specific technical advantages, such as (i) detailed information about

how genes are arranged on the DNA and which genes are switched on and

off, (ii) technology to visualise DNA inside the cell using

state-of-the-art microscopy, and (iii) methods to analyse microscopy

images and to obtain information about the three-dimensional folding of

DNA.