RESEARCH Science Biology

Center will explore how genes regulate cellular metabolism

Jim Barlow, Life Sciences Editor
(217) 333-5802; jebarlow@uiuc.edu

10/29/03

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Two schools of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will soon begin to explore how genes regulate cellular metabolism, eventually leading to ways to enhance overall human health, thanks to a $1.1 million grant from the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust.

The funds will allow researchers to begin purchasing equipment and building the infrastructure for the Carver Center for Metabolomics, which will be located in the Chemical & Life Sciences Laboratory, 601 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana. The center will be part of the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology as well as the School of Chemical Sciences and it will allow for multidisciplinary research projects.

"Metabolomics represents the next frontier in understanding how biological systems work," said Charles Zukoski, vice chancellor for research. "Linking all the small molecules in cells to gene and protein activity will unfold deep understanding of how cells function. This gift places Illinois at the cutting edge of frontier life-sciences research."

Metabolomics is the comprehensive profiling of the small molecules that are produced and consumed by living cells during growth. Through the study of DNA, RNA and proteins, and their metabolites, researchers hope to understand the emergent properties of biological systems such as development, biological clocks and infection processes.
Such research is part of a new initiative of the Carver Trust’s grant program in scientific and medical research.

"We anticipate that metabolomics will emerge as a broad, critical emphasis area of research that will greatly impact the development of novel antimicrobials, improved therapeutics, enhanced nutritional value of food and refined disease diagnostic capabilities," said Brenda A. Wilson, a professor of microbiology.

Wilson, William W. Metcalf, also a professor of microbiology, and Wilfred van der Donk, a professor of chemistry, spearheaded the proposal to the Carver Trust.
Research done in the Carver Center will complement the Institute for Genomic Biology, which is expected to open in 2006, the Biotechnology Center, the W.M. Keck Center for Comparative and Functional Genomics and other related campus facilities.

Funding from the Carver Trust will be provided in two installments over the next year. Additional funding will come from the two schools for the establishment of the center. The center will begin operation as soon as possible, Wilson said.

The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust is located in Muscatine, Iowa. The program in medical and scientific research provides support for innovative investigation that holds the promise for advancing scientific knowledge and improving human health. Roy J. Carver graduated from Illinois in 1934 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. Since 1992, the Carver Trust has awarded more than $8 million to support scientific initiatives at Illinois.