Objective Preserving ones body and reviving it in future generations is a dream of mankind. In fact, there are important practical uses for the preservation of cells, tissues, organs and organisms or for maintaining the gene pool. Many organisms have learned in evolution to enter dormant stages, often associated with desiccation, in which they survive for long periods and then reactivate within minutes or hours.So far, we have failed to learn how cells, tissues or entire organisms can be made dormant or be effectively revived, at ambient temperatures. Attempting to learn that lesson is the vision of "SLEEPING BEAUTY".The objective is by learning from nature to develop novel concepts for cell preservation based on mechanisms with which model organisms tolerate desiccation and/or remain metabolically inactive for long periods. Studies aim at revealing the mechanisms that establish dormancy and resistance to desiccation, those that allow revival from dormant stages and the properties that make dormant stages stress tolerant. This will be achieved by studying five model organisms from diverse taxonomic phyla, using mainly modern tools of global gene expression profiling, proteomics and metabolic analyses. The results will guide further studies on the genetic regulation of these phenomena hopefully leading to sophisticated novel methods for cell and tissue preservation.This is a multi-disciplinary project crossing the traditional boundaries of ecology, physiology, biochemistry, protein chemistry, developmental and molecular biology. The project is adventurous, novel and high-risk with potential long-term impact in biotechnology, medicine and ecology. It has a defined endpoint at which an assessment can be made on the possibilities to artificially make cells, tissues or organisms dormant at ambient temperature. The project is outside the scope of the Thematic Priority Areas 1 and 6, matching the flavour of the NEST Adventure activity. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomicsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologymedical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesmolecular biology Keywords Dormant forms akinetes aquaporins compounds desiccation dormancy fish embryos genes insects proteins resting eggs spores Programme(s) FP6-POLICIES - Policy support: Specific activities covering wider field of research under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006. Topic(s) NEST-2003-1 - Adventure activities Call for proposal FP6-2003-NEST-B-1 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme STREP - Specific Targeted Research Project Coordinator ISRAEL OCEANOGRAPHIC AND LIMNOLOGICAL RESEARCH LTD Address Hubert humphreys, tel shikmona Haifa Israel See on map Links Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (5) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET Denmark EU contribution € 0,00 Address Anker egelundsvej 1 Kgs. lyngby See on map Links Website Opens in new window GÖTEBORGS UNIVERSITET Sweden EU contribution € 0,00 Address Vasaparken Göteborg See on map Links Website Opens in new window INSTITUT DE RECERCA I TECNOLOGÍA AGROALIMENTÀRIES Spain EU contribution € 0,00 Address Passeig de gracia, 44, 3ª planta Barcelona See on map Links Website Opens in new window MAX-PLANCK GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN E.V. Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Hofgartenstr. 8 München See on map Links Website Opens in new window NATURAL ENVIRONMENT RESEARCH COUNCIL United Kingdom EU contribution € 0,00 Address Polaris house, north star avenue Swindon See on map Links Website Opens in new window
