Proteins Assume Top Role in New
Disease-Fighting Tools
- Power to analyze how genes make proteins is boosted
from 100 genes simultaneously to 50,000.
- ATP-funded research leads to three new processes,
about 5 patents, and more than $100 million in deals with five companies.
- The technologies already have provided new clues to
human cancer and crop diseases.
Novel strategies and technologies for analyzing how genes function are rapidly opening
new windows of understanding on diseases in humans and other species, promising to reduce
substantially the costs of developing new drugs while improving treatments. The technical
advances were achieved by CuraGen Corp., of New Haven, Conn., with co-funding from NIST's
Advanced Technology Program (ATP). Whereas conventional genetic studies typically analyze
the chemical sequence or mutations in genes, the company focused instead on the proteins
made by genes. In two separate joint ventures, one with Soane Technologies, Inc., and the
other with American Cyanamid Co., CuraGen developed processes, hardware, and software for
analyzing gene expression (how cells use the genetic information in DNA to make proteins),
interactions between proteins (which are associated with cell function and disease
states), and molecules that could serve as effective drugs. The ATP funding was critical,
according to CuraGen, because it was a rare source of early support for research on gene
expression that enabled the development of practical technologies offering both high
sensitivity and high yield.
The two ATP projects, both spanning 1995 to 1998, led directly to three automated
processes, each consisting of an enabling technology used to generate data, software, and
a database of the results. One process can identify 95 percent of the genes expressed in
any cell including novel genes and those expressed at very low levels. The second process
tests simultaneously for interactions between billions of combinations of proteins and
assembles biological pathways of genes whose protein products interact. The third process
screens the identified genes against libraries of molecules that might bind to the
proteins and thus be candidate drugs. In addition to making deals with five companies
hoping to discover new drugs and agricultural products, CuraGen uses the new technologies
in internal research on several diseases and has discovered 13 disease-related genes. The
company also has grown from 17 to more than 300 employees, and its initial public offering
raised more than $45 million. CuraGen and Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., recently
announced the discovery of a gene that degrades a toxin produced by a mold that often
develops in corn. The discovery represents a major step toward eliminating the toxin,
which can be fatal to livestock.
ATP funding: $4,646,000 (two projects)
Non-ATP funding: $5,806,000 (two projects)
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April 2000 |
