Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Genzyme Molecular Oncology (Nasdaq: GZMO - news) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are sponsoring the SAGE 2000 Conference: Frontiers in Gene Expression Analysis-the largest-ever meeting of leading academic and commercial SAGE (Serial Analysis of Gene Expression) genomics technology users from around the world. SAGE 2000 will be held September 18-20 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Baltimore, MD.
``Now that the human genome has been mapped, our SAGE functional genomics technology is taking center stage,'' said Gail Maderis, president, Genzyme Molecular Oncology. ``SAGE picks up where the Human Genome project leaves off by clarifying the role of genes in disease. SAGE 2000 is an unprecedented gathering of leading scientists and commercial SAGE users from around the globe, illustrating the power and importance of this technology in rapidly advancing research and drug discovery for human disease, as well as in analyzing animal and plant biology.''
Speakers at the conference include scientists from the National Cancer Institute, The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Duke University, as well as Genzyme Molecular Oncology, Compugen Ltd., Invitrogen Corp., and MEMOREC Stoffel GmbH. Approximately 200 delegates from around the world will be attending the conference, including participants from Japan, Korea, Europe, and Australia.
In addition to cancer drug discovery, the conference will include presentations on the application of SAGE in other human diseases, as well as use of SAGE in research on animal and plant systems. Conference presentations will also focus on new developments in SAGE, complementary technologies, and advances in bioinformatics for the analysis of gene expression data.
SAGE is an integral part of The Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP), an interdisciplinary program established and administered by the National Cancer Institute to generate the information and technological tools needed to decipher the molecular anatomy of the cancer cell. CGAP is divided into five complementary initiatives, each with its own goals, informatics tools and resources. NCI has chosen to use SAGE extensively for The Human Tumor Gene Index (hTGI) initiative. hTGI identifies genes expressed during the development of human tumors. SAGE information generated by the NCI under this project is available to the general public at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
SAGE 2000 Presentation Highlights
Dr. Kenneth Kinzler of The Johns Hopkins University Oncology Center will
give the keynote address at the conference. Other highlights include:
-- Brad St. Croix, Ph.D., research fellow, The Johns Hopkins Oncology
Center, will present his recently published paper (Science, vol. 289,
pp. 1197-1201) "Genes Expressed in Human Tumor Endothelium." In this
study, researchers used SAGE to identify 79 genes involved in
angiogenesis, 46 of which are specifically involved in tumor
angiogenesis. These genes can be used as potential drug targets.
Under a sponsored research agreement with the laboratory of Dr. Kenneth
Kinzler, Genzyme Molecular Oncology has rights to all intellectual
property developed by The Johns Hopkins University related to the genes
found in this study.
-- David Krizman, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of
Health will present his work on the use of laser capture
microdissection and SAGE to generate complete gene expression profiles
of a given disease process from minute amounts of RNA.
-- Bruce Roberts, Ph.D., vice president, applied genomics, Genzyme
Molecular Oncology, will discuss how SAGE is used as a powerful
functional genomics tool to identify tumor antigens. The discovery of
tumor associated antigens is essential in the development of new
immunotherapy approaches to treat cancer. Other than melanoma, few
tumor antigens have been identified, hindering the development of
immunotherapy products in other cancer indications. Using SAGE,
Genzyme Molecular Oncology has developed a variety of platform
technologies that expedite the discovery of new antigens, giving it the
most powerful antigen discovery program in the cancer field.
Since 1997, more than 50 publications have appeared in leading scientific journals describing the use of SAGE to study human, model organism, and agricultural species.
SAGE 2000 Conference Information can be obtained via the World Wide Web at sagenet.org. Media who are interested in attending SAGE 2000 can obtain a press pass by contacting Elizabeth Heller at 617-761- 8419. |
