Research Areas
Cancer Genomics
A major goal of The Genome Institute is to advance the emerging field of cancer genomics. In 2008, The Genome Institute became the first to sequence the complete genome of a cancer patient — a woman with leukemia — and to trace her disease to its genetic roots. The Genome Institute has since sequenced the genomes of many cancer patients including those with breast, lung, ovarian and brain tumors. The Genome Institute has also initiated a major landmark project with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to sequence the genomes of several hundred pediatric cancer patients.
Human and Mammalian Genetics
The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2000 was just the beginning of the search to understand our own genetic underpinnings. Since that time, researchers, including those at The Genome Institute, have continued to scrutinize the human genome in many ways — from describing the structure and function of our sex chromosomes (X,Y) to deciphering the immense variation present among human and other mammalian populations.
Human Microbiome and Metagenomics
The human microbiome is the collection of millions of microbes that colonize the human body. The Genome Institute is applying the next generation of sequencing technology to analyze the genomes of these organisms, characterize the communities they form and measure how communities change in different health and disease states.
Pathogen Genomics and Global Health
The Genome Institute is sequencing and analyzing the genomes of various pathogens in order to understand and help develop treatment for diseases that affect populations around the world. Such diseases and their associated pathogens have a major impact on human health and applying genomic tools to the study of these organisms has the potential to improve existing global health inequities.
Center Initiated Projects
Center Initiated Projects (CIPs) are proposed by The Genome Institute to help fulfill the mission and strategic vision of the NHGRI and NIH. All CIP data will be released in a timely manner via appropriate databases in accordance with NHGRI and NIH guidelines.
Genomes
Primates
The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine has produced whole genome assemblies for several primates in conjunction with The Broad Institute (Cambridge, MA) and Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center (Houston, TX). These assemblies include chimp, orangutan, rhesus macaque, marmoset, and tarsier. Other primate projects that are in various stages of sequencing and analysis are the vervet, cynomologous macaque, gibbon and gorilla.
Other Vertebrates
We define other vertebrates as a grouping of all non-primate vertebrate sequencing projects. The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine has produced whole genome draft assemblies for a variety of other vertebrate species spanning over 400 million years of evolution. This diverse grouping of species presents unique traits that allow us to question the molecular signatures responsible. Though we cannot recreate the evolutionary changes needed to bring about these phenotypes, we can turn to whole genome comparisons among diverse species, hoping to find clues in the smallest functional pieces, the genes.
Invertebrates
Invertebrates are defined as organisms having to backbone or spinal column. This group includes 97% of all animals and therefore, is of great import, especially in attempting to determine phylogenetic relationships. The Genome Institute has sequenced and is sequencing many invertebrates for just this purpose. We also have been and presently are working with other sequencing Centers (such as The Broad Institute, The Welcome Trust Sanger Centre, Baylor College of Medicine Human Genome Sequencing Center, and the J Craig Venter Institute) on joint invertebrate sequencing and analysis projects.
Plants
The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine has participated in two plant projects, the Arabidopsis Genome Project, as a member of an international consortium, and the Maize Genome Project in which The Genome Institute was the lead institution. The Arabidopsis genome was completed in 2000. The Maize Project was published in 2009 and provides an ordered set of finished sequences for the gene-rich regions of the genome, while linking these “gene islands” to the genetic map — providing the necessary context for the utilization of maize gene sequences as a platform for biological research.
Microorganisms
The microbial sequencing effort at The Genome Institute currently includes organisms in several categories. One major effort involves the human microbiome - the collection of microbes that colonize the human body. The Genome Institute is applying next generation sequencing and analysis technology to analyze the genomes of these and other microbes, characterize the communities they form and measure how they change in health and disease.
Publications
Genome Institute Publications
A database of material published by researchers from the Genome Institute at Washington University.
Activities
Whole Genome Re-sequencing
The Whole Genome Re-sequencing Group focuses on developing and optimizing sample intake, production sequencing, and sequence analysis pipelines for human disease genomic research, with a major emphasis on cancer.
De Novo Assembly
The De Novo Assembly Group is responsible for taking the sequenced pieces of various species’ genomes and putting them together as contiguously and accurately as possible.
Microbial Genomics
The Microbial Genomics Group represents a range of activities from sequencing individual bacteria to population genomics studies of microbial species to analysis of complex metagenomic samples.
Targeted Re-sequencing
The Targeted Re-sequencing Group sequences specific regions of genomes using several different methods including PCR as well as hybrid selection techniques.
Transcriptomes
The Transcriptomes Group works on the various aspects of sequencing and analysis of transcriptomes, based on next-generation sequencing of RNA.
Data
Data Use Policy
Guidelines for proper acknowledgment when using data generated by The Genome Institute.
The Genome Institute EST Projects
Expressed Sequence Tags are short (usually about 300-500 bp), single-pass sequence reads from mRNA (cDNA).
The Genome Institute FTP Service
Files made available for public use by The Genome Institute.
NCBI dbEST
A division of GenBank that contains sequence data and other information on "single-pass" cDNA sequences, or Expressed Sequence Tags, from a number of organisms.
NCBI Trace Archive
National Center for Biotechnology Information Trace Archive.
Tools
BLAST
Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, or BLAST, is a tool for comparing primary biological sequence information.
Genome Modeling Tools
The Genome Modeling Tools site provides reliable software for high-throughput genomic analysis that is easy to install and well documented.
People Spotlight
TGI Directors Receive Outstanding St. Louis Scientists Award
Drs. Wilson, Mardis and Ley have received the first George Engelmann Interdisciplinary Science Award for outstanding achievement in science, engineering or technology resulting from collaboration among two or more individuals across disciplinary and/or institutional boundaries. (more)
Project Spotlight
DNA sequencing lays foundation for personalized cancer treatment
Genome Institute researchers are using powerful DNA sequencing technology not only to identify mutations at the root of a patient's tumor - considered key to personalizing cancer treatment - but to map the genetic evolution of disease and monitor response to treatment. (more)
Project Spotlight
Research Provides Clues to Pediatric Cancer Treatments
Four new studies from the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital - Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project provide clues to treatment of the eye tumor retinoblastoma in children, an aggressive form of childhood leukemia, a rare lethal childhood brain tumor called DIPG and a fatal form of neuroblastoma in adolescents and young adults. (more)
Genome Spotlight
Completed Genome of World's Most Popular Pet
The domestic cat is the most popular pet globally. Sequencing and genetic mapping has revealed interesting information about this model organism that is being used to understand cancer and infectious disease in humans. (more)
Institute Spotlight
The Genome Institute Receives Four-Year $114 million Grant
Washington University's Genome Institute has received a $114 million four-year grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to continue its groundbreaking genomic research. (more)
Outreach Spotlight
OGR Application Period Now Open
The Opportunities in Genomics Research program application period is now open. Students interested in summer or post-baccalaureate research in genomics and related areas can apply now! (more)
Career Opportunities
To view TGI job postings, please visit: http://jobs.wustl.edu. (more)
Genome Spotlight
Sequencing the Atlantic Killifish
The Genome Institute is collaborating on a project to sequence the Atlantic Killifish and identify the genes it has evolved to help it survive in extreme conditions. (more)
Genome Spotlight
American Bald Eagle Sequenced
Researchers at The Genome Institute in collaboration with Dr. Erich Jarvis, Duke University, have sequenced the genome of the American bald eagle – the symbol of the United States of America. (more)
Project Spotlight
Detailed picture of ovarian cancer emerges
Scientists have completed the largest analysis to date of the genetic mutations underlying ovarian cancer. The research was conducted by scientists at The Genome Institute and elsewhere as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. (more)
Web Spotlight
The Genome Institute Launches New Software Tools Site
The new Genome Modeling Tools site provides reliable software for high-throughput genomic analysis that is easy to install and well documented. This software is developed and maintained by the Informatics group at The Genome Institute. (more)
Event Spotlight
International Human Microbiome Congress 2011
Highlights of The Genome Institute’s research presented at the 2011 International Human Microbiome Congress (IHMC) in Vancouver, Canada. The event included over 500 researchers from around the world. (more)
Project Spotlight
DNA of 50 breast cancer patients decoded
In the single largest cancer genomics investigation reported to date, The Genome Institute researchers and colleagues have sequenced the whole genomes of tumors from 50 breast cancer patients and compared them to the matched DNA of the same patients' healthy cells. (more)
Project Spotlight
Genomics of a Mouse Cancer Model
Scientists at The Genome Institute and colleagues, who pioneered sequencing the genomes of cancer patients to find novel genetic changes at the root of the disease, have now turned their attention to a laboratory workhorse — a mouse. (more)
Genome Spotlight
Trichinella parasite gets DNA decoded
Scientists at The Genome Institute and their collaborators have decoded the DNA of the parasitic worm that causes Trichinosis, a disease linked to eating raw or undercooked pork or carnivorous wild game animals, such as bear and walrus. (more)
Genome Spotlight
Stealthy Pathogen's Genome Provides Plant Disease Clues
An international team of scientists has sequenced the genome of a common plant pathogen to help explain its stealthy destructiveness and devise new ways to prevent disease in crops. (more)
Project Spotlight
AML Genomics
Researchers have discovered mutations in a gene that affects the treatment prognosis for some patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive blood cancer that kills 9,000 Americans annually. (more)
Project Spotlight
1000 Genomes Project Pilot Phase Complete
The 1000 Genomes Project is an international collaboration that is working to catalog variation present in DNA from populations around the globe. This public data is already helping with the study of human disease and evolution. (more)
Genome Spotlight
Malaria mosquitoes' DNA shows evolving species
New research reveals that two strains of Anopheles gambiae, a type of mosquito responsible for the majority of malaria transmission in Africa, have evolved such substantial genetic differences that they are becoming different species. (more)
