Find your way around the Research site
|
|
Invitation for journalists
Understanding Human Disease International Conference & Media
programme
|
||
|
A major conference will
be held in Venice, on 14 and 15 October 2005: – EUROMOUSE:
Understanding Human Disease through Mouse Genetics – Top researchers,
experts and policy-makers from the EU member states and beyond will
attend. Fifteen large collaborative projects in this field, all
funded by the EU’s Sixth Research Framework Programme (2002-2006)
will be presented and discussed. These projects strongly support
the importance of the mouse model to investigate human gene function
in health and disease. The launch of a new major EU initiative (EUCOMM)
aiming at mutagenizing 20,000 genes of the mouse genome will be
announced. The mouse plays a pivotal role in enhancing our understanding of human health and disease. About 25.000 different genes have been mapped in the human genome and the challenge is now to understand the function of these genes and their role in diseases. For more than 50% of the human genes identified, we have no idea of their potential function. To investigate the detailed function of a given gene it is important to test in vivo a mutant form of this gene. Producing a full range of mutants in humans is unthinkable, hence working on model organisms is essential. The mouse is ideal for such testing, because it is a very close mammalian relative of the human and carries 99% of human genes. Each of the projects that will be presented at the conference tackles a different area of mouse genetics. Some are implementing new tools, technologies and resources. Others use mouse models to investigate the functions of the main genes involved in such biological processes as hearing, muscle formation, kidney functions, angiogenesis, embryonic-stem-cell differentiation and the immune response. All these projects have ambitious objectives that can only be achieved through intensive collaboration between research teams of complementary expertise. That’s why the EU has invested 135 million Euros in them over the last three years, with the result that EU scientists easily lead the world in this field. The launch of EUCOMM The project will aim to produce mutant mouse stem cells by neutralising each individually the function of 20,000 genes. By altering the genetic make-up of mice, the researchers will show how genes lead to diseases affecting vision, hearing, behaviour and the brain. It is intended that scientists from across the world can access freely mutated Embryonic Stem cell clones from the EUCOMM programme. This European collaborative effort integrates into an ongoing world-wide effort in mouse functional genomics. Indeed, simultaneously with this Venice press conference, another press conference will take place in Canada, for a complementary Canadian research effort that is also being launched at the same time as EUCOMM (visible by video conference). Media programme Participants
Media highlights
|
||
For
Your Editorial Planning
