NIH Provides $185 Million to Advance Understanding of Human Genome Functions
To drive the advancement of our understanding of the human genome, the National Institute of Health (NIH) is providing $185 million in funding over the next five years, the agency announced (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-providing-185-million-research-advance-understanding-how-human-genome-functions) in September 2021.
The funding will go directly to the Impact of Genomic Variation on Function (IGVF) consortium to fund 25 awards across 30 U.S. research sites to investigate the following priorities:
- Understanding how genomic variants alter human genome function
- Identifying the ways that variation influences human health and disease
- Determining which genomic variants are relevant to health and disease
IGVF will use the results to create a catalog for the research community, which will also enable researchers to develop (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-providing-185-million-research-advance-understanding-how-human-genome-functions) computational modeling approaches to predict variants’ effect on genome function.
The science behind the human genome is complicated, but rapid-evolving tests and research have revolutionized the field (https://voice.ons.org/news-and-views/harnessing-the-power-of-genes). Providing additional funding for national organizations dedicated to learning more about the genome enables researchers to make extraordinary advancements to help treat diseases and manage symptoms.
“Biomedical researchers have recently made remarkable advances in the experimental and computational methods available for elucidating genome function,” Carolyn Hutter, PhD, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute Division of Genome Sciences, said (https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-providing-185-million-research-advance-understanding-how-human-genome-functions). “The IGVF consortium will include world leaders in these areas, and together they will leverage these advancements to tackle an incredibly challenging and important series of questions related to how genomic variation influences biological function.”
ONS resources can help you learn more about genomics and precision oncology. Access ONS’s learning library (https://www.ons.org/learning-libraries/precision-oncology) on the subject, which links you to tools like a genomics taxonomy (https://www.ons.org/genomics-taxonomy) and webinars (https://www.ons.org/webinars/genomic-testing-cancer-care-recorded-webinar). Additionally, healthcare professionals can learn more about genetics and genomics with articles in ONS Voice’s topic tag (https://voice.ons.org/topic/genetics-genomics).