Proteomics and functional genomics have emerged recently as major new disciplines within the biological sciences, which will provide a greater understanding of the function of the many new genes being described by whole genome projects. They involve the use of innovative technologies, such as DNA micro-arrays and mass spectrometry, to provide comprehensive profiles of the genes expressed and the proteins present at any specified time or under any specified conditions in living systems. When combined with the powerful bio-informatics systems now available for analysis of the complex data resulting and the ever-increasing amounts of information data-banked, these procedures will provide new possibilities for disease diagnosis, therapeutic intervention, or event marker identification.

The proposers are seeking to gain expertise in these new technologies, to complement their own research activities in diagnostic assay development and also to enable them to exploit fully the potential of new instrumentation now available on campus. They propose to send staff to European laboratories with high level activity in these technologies and also to recruit experienced scientists from Europe to work closely with local scientists on a range of on-going projects aimed at the identification of novel targets for various diagnostic applications, such as diagnosis of infection, identification of genes associated with reproductive disorders, and identification of quality markers for economically important fish species.

The incoming fellows will provide training and help develop expertise in these new technologies, thereby not only providing novel approaches to answer existing research problems, but also opening up possibilities of new research avenues and new research collaborations i n the future. Thus, the increased competence that will result will enhance the research capabilities of the host laboratory and contribute to the development of a unified European research area.