In view of the wealth of highly complex data accumulated in the process of genome analysis, biologists and geneticists working in this Research Program closely cooperate with computer scientists and mathematicians. In addition, they use biophysical methods to model and analyze the spatial structure and biological function of the individual genes. Since the gene products, i.e. protein molecules, have a well-defined and functionally optimized spatial structure according to an exact blueprint determined by nature, a defect in the genomic sequence of building blocks is naturally also reflected in the structure of the resulting gene product. Whether and at what rate cells multiply depends on the interplay of numerous factors. Only if all parts of the machinery engage correctly, or at least the repair mechanisms function properly, a cell can aggregate develop correctly.
Otherwise cancer is one of the possible results.
Applying mathematical and statistical methods to the data obtained in experimental cancer research, even if these are incomplete, scientists are trying to analyze and simulate the growth of normal and malignant cell populations. One of their main objectives is to thereby gain a better understanding of the role of the various internal and external factors involved. To this end, we need, in particular, new techniques facilitating and accelerating the identification of such genes and allowing researchers to isolate functional sequences from larger genomic regions. Research in this field focuses on genes whose products have regulatory functions and which are considered likely candidates for influencing the process of cancer. A comparison of the localization of such genes on the chromosomes of normal cells and of tumor cells may yield further insights into their cancer-causing potential.