As part of a $4.88 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), molecular biologists from the University of Rochester Medical Center will join a team seeking to create the first complete wiring diagram of a living cell. By wiring diagram, researchers mean a detailed model, not only of the cell’s genes and their function, but also of the interplay between them. When complete, the diagram has the potential to reveal cellular approaches to treating many diseases, including cancer.
With most genes redundant and related to other genes and proteins in predictable ways, we can begin to identify the function of unknown cellular players based on their neighbors and associates,
said Eric Phizicky, Ph.D., professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the medical center. That puts us within reach of a completed diagram and the ability to re-wire cells in the treatment of disease.