President Hall seeks funding to open USU genomics center
Looking to expand the quality and caliber of Utah State University’s academic and competitive reputation, President Kermit L. Hall is petitioning Utah Legislature for money to fund a genomic center at USU.
“Because we are a land grant university with a history in agriculture, engineering and science, genomics is a logical next step for this institution,” PresidentHall said.
“Genomics is already going on on campus and those efforts could be significantly enhanced if we put more emphasis on this. This offers an opportunity to bring the university together as a highly inter-disciplinary scientific enterprise,” President Hall said.
President Hall is asking the Utah state legislature for one-half million dollars, “the barest of start-up” money, to implement a genomics center at USU. He believes his petition will be taken into serious consideration with the Utah Legislature because it complements the governor’s initiative to “enhance all of higher education, engineering, computer science and economic development,” President Hall said.
President Hall said he realizes, however, that funding is tight because of the current economic status and as a consequence, new initiatives will most likely be at the bottom of the spectrum where funding is concerned. President Hall said he is also looking into receiving funding on a government and corporate level.
Noelle Cockett, vice provost for academic affairs and chair of the genomic task force at USU, said a center for genomics would greatly benefit at least a dozen departments in the University including computer science, biotechnology, engineering, natural resources, math, statistics and biology.
Cockett said the study of genomics allows an individual to determine all the genes of the human body.
“There are 60,000 genes in a human. The gene is responsible for carrying information to a protein,” she said.
The protein determines how an organism looks, how well its body metabolizes food or fights infection, and sometimes how it behaves, Cockett said.
“All this information is contained in the DNA molecule, or in other words, the genome. [A genome] is the whole combination of genes that you have. The order of our genes makes my protein slightly different from yours. It’s what make me, me and you, you,” Cockett said.
When the Human Genome Project formally began to decipher all the DNA sequences for the entire human body in 1990, many people said the effort could never be accomplished. But in June of 2000, the Human Genome Project announced the completion of decoding the entire DNA sequences in the human body, Cockett said.
This knowledge of DNA variation can lead to revolutionary new ways to diagnose, treat and someday even prevent the thousands of disorders that affect the human race, Cockett said.
Complete sequencing has also been done on approximately 60 microbe genomes and about 10 plants at USU. This allows scientists to look at the different traits in various organisms and discover ways in which things can be done better and more effectively, Cockett said.
If funding for a genomic center is procured, the university would focus on three main themes or areas of research and discovery.
The first theme deals with the management of natural populations. This would involve wildlife, fish, plants, native species as well as invasive species and generic variation between organisms, Cockett said.
Karen Mock, research faculty associate in fisheries and wildlife, said a genomic center would benefit her department as to enable them to “look at the genetic underpinnings of population dynamics, extinction and hybridization that result in changes in their prevalence.”
“It would put us on the map. This is an applied school. This is a land grant university and that is part of our mission, to use these applications. It is realistic, it is beneficial,” Mock said.
The second theme the university would focus on is agricultural biotechnology. This primarily involves plants and animals.
“The hope here is to identify projects that would improve production of plants and animals right down at the DNA level. These genomics will aid in work that’s already being done,” Cockett said.
Cockett said a genomic center would allow them to determine which genes coded for disease or drought resistance to improve plant and animal production.
The third theme the center would look into is microbe detection using genomics, Cockett said.
Cockett said this could be beneficial in a number of ways ranging from improving the flavor of cheese to discovering a faster way to detect anthrax by using DNA.
“We want to bring together groups of people who are interested in working on these things and develop a full team of people under a theme with different areas of expertise,” Cockett said.
John Morrey, professor in animal, dairy, and veterinary science in the Biotechnology Center, said a genomics center would greatly enhance the university and would prove helpful in his study with transgenics.
“It’s progressive thinking. It’s moving forward. I don’t think it’s so absolutely critical as to how you move forward just as long as you move forward. An academic institution should be involved with thinking progressively and moving forward,” Morrey said.
Hall said genomics and protiomics (the study of proteins) “is on the immediate horizon” and USU needs to be more aggressive to keep up with peer institutions.
“If we aren’t there, we will lose ground. If we are there, we may gain ground. By all means, we’ve got to be there,” he said.
Professor in chemistry and biochemistry Steven Aust agreed.
“We need to be able to train our students. We are basically in a technological revolution in science. Every major university in the world is going down the road at 90 miles an hour. Where is Utah State? We’ve got to somehow ensure our students are competitive. We do the best we can with what we have even though we are [currently] severely handicapped because we don’t have the proper equipment,” Aust said.
President Hall said another reason USU needs to “take aggressive account” of genomics is because having a genomic center would bring “great potential for stimulating and enhancing the economy of the university. It would bring terrific economic opportunities.”
Cockett said she expects there will be some controversy to setting up a center for genomics because of several social dimensions that are involved.
President Hall said there has been “no case of human progress without some controversy.”
“We need to keep an eye on fidelity to the scientific quest as a research university. My goal is not to cut off inquiry but to open the opportunity for inquiry. In order to be successful we have to push the boundaries of human inquiry. We cannot be out of this game,” President Hall said. However, President Hall said the social consequences must be considered and dealt with.