eIMBL Unit Labs
 
Faculty Members
 

DNA Replication
Systems Biology
Genomic Medicine
Molecular Oriental Medicine
Infectious Disease


Genomic Medicine


1. Introduction

Genomic medicine deals with the application of the human genome research to the medical practice. The genome is a complete set of DNA for a particular organism. DNA-deoxyribonucleic acid-is made up of four chemicals called bases, abbreviated as A, T, C, and G. The human genome has approximately 3 billion pairs of bases.

All diseases have a genetic component, whether inherited or resulting from the body's response to environmental stresses such as viruses or toxins. A number of genes associated with breast cancer, muscle disease, deafness, and blindness have been identified. The explorations into the nature of human genome represent a major challenge extending far into the twenty-first century. These explorations will shed light on the role of faulty genes in disease causation.


2. Genomic Medicine Lab at eIMBL

Genomic Medicine Lab aims at serving the Genomic Medicine community in the Asia-Pacific region by promoting the development and diffusion of achievements in Genomic Medicine, and by promoting the collaborative efforts of research centers.

Genomic Medicine Lab was initiated by the workshop "Genome-wide Approaches in Genomic Medicine" held at the Academia Sinica in Taiwan on 9 January 2007. The workshop was co-sponsored by National Research Program for Genomic Medicine (NRPGM), eIMBL and Asia-Pacific International Molecular Biology Network (A-IMBN). It consisted of presentations by research experts/representatives from Korea, Japan, Hong-Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. The topics covered included genotyping, RNAi library screening, and epigenomics of cancer.


3. Plans

As more detailed plans will be specified later, the goals of Genomic Medicine Lab include:

- Providing an active website for electronic access to information of interest for genomic medicine community in the
  Asia-Pacific region
- Promoting cooperation and communication among scientists and engineers in the Asia-Pacific genomic medicine
  community
- Sponsoring educational initiatives and special programs that support the development of genomic medicine
- Supporting and promoting new discoveries and applications in genomic medicine.
- Organizing on/offline workshops, short courses, seminars
- Facilitating technical and research interactions between genomic medicine research centers


4. Members

- Head of the eIMBL-Genomic Medicine Lab
Dr. James Shen (Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)
Homepage: http://www.imb.sinica.edu.tw/~ckshen/e.html


- Core members:
Dr. Hyung-Lae Kim (Korea National Institue of Health, Korea)
Homepage: http://www.ngri.re.kr/html/eng/index.html

Dr. Yusuke Nakamura (RIKEN, Japan)
Homepage: http://www.ims.u-tokyo.ac.jp/nakamura

Dr. Jianjun Liu (Genome Institute of Singapore, Singapore)
Homepage: http://www.gis.a-star.edu.sg/internet/site/investigators.php?user_id=17&f=cv

Dr. Pak C. Sham (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong)
Homepage: http://www.hku.hk/fmri/people_sham.htm

Dr. Ui-Tei Kumiko (University of Tokyo, Japan)
Homepage:

Dr. Y.T. Chen (Ins. of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)
Homepage: http://www.genomics.sinica.edu.tw/index.php?t=13&article_id=33

Dr. Hiroyuki Aburatani (University of Tokyo, Japan)
Homepage: http://www2.genome.rcast.u-tokyo.ac.jp/egl/mmb/aburatanih.html

Dr. Bermseok Oh (Korea National Institue of Health, Korea)
Homepage: http://www.ngri.re.kr/html/eng/index.html