Pilot Projects in Genome Engineering

The NGEC supports innovative exploratory work outside of the core goals of the NGEC that contributes to the development of genome engineering, and/or potentially contributes to or expands applications of NGEC core work. Two specific examples of project types that will be excellent candidates for funding are:

Evaluation of new technologies for potential future use in genome engineering: One can imagine a number of examples in which new technologies might be usefully applied to NGEC goals, if there was a mechanism for evaluating/demonstrating their utility in a small scale project. However, such evaluation might not fit within the constraints of NGEC component budgeting, or might be more fruitfully carried out initially by an outside investigator with expertise complementary to those of NGEC PI's, and later imported into NGEC applications if the pilot work proved promising.
Support of outside investigator use of NGEC-developed reagents and technologies in new applications: By funding projects in which an outside investigator proposes to apply genome engineering methods to a new area or field of work, the impact of the NGEC will be substantially broadened. An example of this would be use of an alternative delivery methodology to deliver an engineered nuclease and template to a non-hematopoietic tissue for the purpose of gene repair.

Two projects will be funded each year from a single review cycle (subject to receipt of sufficiently qualified proposals). The next application deadline is October 1, 2008. Application requirements and instructions are undergoing revision and will be posted sometime this summer. Questions about the program or application process should be directed to Jennifer Eastberg, NGEC Project Coordinator.

The only requirement for a project to be considered for funding is that the project must carry out exploratory work in a genome engineering related field. The use of homing endonucleases in the proposed research is not obligatory. Funding will be awarded based on discussions of the review committee, with the major criteria for evaluation of each project being the relationship of the project to genome engineering and overall goals of the NGEC, the scientific strength of the proposal and numerical scores provided by reviewers. This program provides $125,000 per 2 year grant (direct costs, split $50,000 for the first year, and $75,000 for the 2nd year; indirect costs will also be paid).

Projects Currently Funded:

Dr. Markus Grompe, M.D., Oregon Health Sciences University “Double strand break-induced gene repair of hereditary tyrosinemia using AAV vectors and LAGLIDADG homing endonucleases”