Global genomics project could trim drug design by 18 months

The largest-ever research project to determine protein structures plans to make another 700 human proteins freely available by 2011

Published: 07/01

A landmark achievement that is expected to reduce the time to develop a drug or therapy by as much as 18 months. With renewed funding for the next four years beginning in July 2007, the Canadian-led Structural Genomics Consortium is underpinning the world’s basic and applied research efforts by providing freely available information about the molecular basis of human health and diseases. The project is led by Canadian scientist Dr. Aled Edwards from the University of Toronto, with major funding from CIHR, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, the Wellcome Trust, Genome Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, as well as from Ontario and Sweden organizations.