COLUMBUS -- The discoveries of how the individual components of the human genome affect human health should be accelerated thanks to a partnership between Ohio State University researchers, the Ohio Supercomputer Center and the makers of a unique software program designed to decipher our genetic code.

Last summer, federal officials announced that they had nearly completed the mapping of the entire human genome. But until researchers “annotate” the genome – disassemble its pieces and link them to the biological function they control – the value of that mapping will be limited.

Since the genome is thought to contain at least 50,000 individual genes – if not more – and 3 billion chemical base pairs in the DNA, the challenge of finding the needles in this biological haystack is daunting.

That’s where a new agreement between OSU, the Ohio Supercomputer Center and LabBook, Inc. comes in. The three have joined forces to speed up the annotation process by linking LabBook’s unique software approach with OSC’s ability to analyze the massive amounts of data contained in the genome map.

Key players in this arrangement are scientists with OSU’s Human Cancer Genetics Program who are developing strategies to target those parts of the genome most likely to provide the key information necessary to improve human health and perhaps treat, or even prevent, disease.

The agreement gives HCGP researchers and others at the university access to LabBook’s software platform and to its growing database of genetic information as they look for the distinct causes of genetic cancers. The software allows them to search for specific patterns among the millions of base pairs in DNA that might signal either a potential cause or cure for disease.

“Our database and the way we deliver it to scientists represents an important advance in extracting meaningful information from the human genome data,” said Shawn Green, chief executive officer at LabBook.

Albert de la Chapelle, director of OSU’s Human Cancer Genetics Program, agrees that the software tool should expedite their search for vital information buried within the genome.

“The speed with which we can attack the problems of genetic disease depends in large part on how easily we can analyze and manipulate the enormous amount of data involved. This partnership should aid us enormously in finding the answers we’re seeking and having an impact on quelling human disease,” he said.

An important part of the partnership is an agreement by LabBook to support five post-doctoral fellowships at Ohio State. Applicants for two of the fellowships will be sought immediately and three more should be recruited this fall.

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