**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

**The J. Craig Venter Institute, The University of Washington, and the
johns hopkins university initiate resequencing and genotyping projects
to help identify critical disease pathways**

*\-- Research is Part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's
Complimentary Resequencing and Genotyping Program \--*

ROCKVILLE, MD -- February 6, 2006 -- Scientists from the J. Craig Venter
Institute, the University of Washington, Seattle, and The Johns Hopkins
University have initiated resequencing and genotyping research on five
projects selected by the National Institutes of Health's National Heart,
Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), as part of the NHLBI's Resequencing
and Genotyping Service (RS&G). The RS&G program was established to
enable researchers to more rapidly identify disease pathways of heart,
lung, and blood diseases, as well as sleep disorders, ultimately
enabling discovery of targeted therapeutics.

"Making advanced high-throughput genomics technologies accessible to
researchers will rapidly advance studies by uncovering biological
mechanisms, which will ultimately lead to new intervention and
prevention strategies of these complex diseases," said Samuel Levy,
Ph.D., principal investigator at the J. Craig Venter Institute.

Launched in October 2004, RS&G awards complimentary resequencing and
genotyping services to principal investigators currently conducting
studies to determine the genetic cause, outcome, or progression of
cardiovascular or respiratory diseases or sleep disorders. Five projects
to date have been selected by NHLBI for which Venter Institute and the
University of Washington, Seattle are conducting resequencing.
Leveraging high-throughput resequencing capabilities, genes and genic
regions are being resequenced using a PCR-based strategy for the
amplification of genomic DNA, followed by capillary-based dye-terminator
sequencing. The Johns Hopkins University is performing genotyping
analysis primarily through the use of its high-throughput Illumina
BeadLab system within the Genetic Resources Core Facility of the
McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine.

"NHLBI's RS&G program has already enabled identification of 344 SNPs in
cardiac tissue from my lab's samples, of which more than 70 percent of
the SNPs are novel, when compared to existing SNPs," noted award
recipient Dan Roden, MD, professor of medicine and pharmacology at
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. "This program is truly
providing researchers who could otherwise not afford resequencing and
genotyping the opportunity to understand how DNA variants will
contribute to disease states.\"

Gail Jarvik, professor of medicine at the University of Washington
Medical Center, was awarded one of the first five projects to determine
the role of genes involved in the immune system in heart disease and
stroke. She noted, \"The ability to compete for the highest quality of
genetic support is an important new mechanism for rapidly moving
promising research forward.\"

"NHLBI's first five projects are focused on genetic analysis of
diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),
cardiac arrhythmias, iron deficiency, visceral adiposity, and carotid
artery disease," commented Debbie Nickerson, Ph.D., professor of Genome
Sciences at the University of Washington.

Alan Scott, Ph.D., director of Genetics Resources Core Facility at The
Johns Hopkins University noted, "We hope that the success of these
initial projects will encourage other principal investigators who don't
currently have access to or cannot afford resequencing and genotyping
services to take advantage of this program."

**About NHLBI's RS&G Program**

The RS&G program is a five year project (2004-2009) with review cycles
twice a year with deadlines in November and May. For selected projects,
there is no cost for the resequencing and genotyping and all data are
sent directly by the centers to the Principal Investigators. Principal
Investigators are encouraged to submit projects for inclusion in this
multiyear program. Applications are submitted through the RS&G website
at [http://rsng.nhlbi.nih.gov](http://rsng.nhlbi.nih.gov/).
Investigators interested in submitting proposals to the program are
encouraged to learn more about the opportunity and about access to the
RS&G services by contacting Dr. Deborah Applebaum-Bowden at
<applebad@nhlbi.nih.gov>.

**About The J. Craig Venter Institute**

The J. Craig Venter Institute is a not-for-profit research institute
dedicated to the advancement of the science of genomics; the
understanding of its implications for society; and communication of
those results to the scientific community, the public, and policymakers.
Founded by J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., the Institute is home to
approximately 200 staff and scientists with expertise in human and
evolutionary biology, genetics, bioinformatics/informatics, information
technology, high-throughput DNA sequencing, genomic and environmental
policy research, and public education in science and science policy. The
J. Craig Venter Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization. For additional
information, please visit
[http://www.venterinstitute.org](http://www.venterinstitute.org/).

**About UW Medicine, Seattle**

UW Medicine is composed of the School of Medicine, Harborview Medical
Center, UW Medical Center, UW Medicine Neighborhood Clinics, and UW
Physicians. It has membership interests in the Seattle Cancer Care
Alliance and Children\'s University Medical Group. UW Medicine has major
academic and service affiliations with Children\'s Hospital and Regional
Medical Center, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and the
Veterans Affairs medical centers in Seattle and Boise. Consistently
among the top five recipients of federal funding for biomedical
research, the School of Medicine has more than 4,500 volunteer clinical
faculty in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho and 1,700
regular faculty in Seattle. Among them are five Nobel Laureates, 30
members of the National Academy of Sciences, and 28 members of the
Institute of Medicine. UW Medical Center ranks among the nation\'s top
10 hospitals. For more information about UW Medicine, visit
<http://www.uwmedicine.org/>.

**About the McKusick-Nathans Institute at Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine**

The McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine is the central focus
of research, teaching and patient care in genetics at JHU. It provides
national and international leadership in genetic medicine. The aims of
the Institute are to create knowledge in genetics and to use that
knowledge to treat and prevent disease. The Genetic Resources Core
Facility is a service center within the Institute which provides access
to materials, expertise, equipment and services that advance the
research of investigators at JHU and beyond.

Media Contacts:

Barbara Askjaer

J. Craig Venter Institute

240-268-2767

<baskjaer@venterinstitute.org>

Clare Hagerty

University of Washington, Seattle

206-685-1323

<clareh@u.washington.edu>

Joanna Downer

Johns Hopkins University

410-614-5105

<jdowner1@jhmi.edu>

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