Advances

(Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries by e-mailing: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)

Computer aids genetics work
Sun Microsystems, Inc. and the university will expand a decade-long partnership with a $2.5 million supercomputer for genetics research.

The Genome Center of Wisconsin, a research group steering genomics research projects on campus, will start tests this month on the computer. The system will benefit researchers not only in genomics but across the biotechnology spectrum at UW–Madison.

Popularly known as the Starfire, the Sun Enterprise 10000 has one of the largest shared-memory systems in the world, as well as massive processing capacity, making it one of the world’s leading supercomputers.

Fred Blattner, a genetics professor and director of the genome center, says the new computer combined with existing technology will give the center one of the 500 fastest computing facilities in the world.

“This is a field that produces tremendous amounts of data and enormous image files, so computer power is crucial to our task,” Blattner says. “This computer gives us the horsepower we need to make sense of genomes.”

One growing area is called bioinformatics, the process of deciphering the flood of information coming from DNA sequencing. Computer tools will ultimately help scientists determine the functions of genes and the locations of genetic diseases. More than a dozen UW–Madison researchers have projects that will benefit from the computer.

Sleep apnea likely to lead to hypertension
Armed with the strongest evidence to date, Medical School researchers have established that sleep apnea – episodes of breathing pauses during sleep – is likely to be an important cause of hypertension. Results of their eight-year study involving more than 700 people appear in the May 11 New England Journal of Medicine.

The UW researchers found that even mild to moderate levels of sleep apnea produce a substantial risk of hypertension. The new data are from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, an ongoing investigation of cardiopulmonary problems linked to sleep disorders, directed by Terry Young, professor of preventive medicine.
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“Frontiers of Genomics’ attracts national experts
Nobel laureates, MacArthur geniuses and industry pioneers are on the card for the fourth annual “Frontiers of Genomics” symposium May 18-19.

Sponsored by the new Genome Center of Wisconsin, the symposium features some of the leading innovators in the genomics field. The event includes a mix of both basic research advances and current medical and social applications. Speakers include Walter Gilbert, a Harvard University chemist, whose pathbreaking work in DNA sequencing earned him a Nobel Prize in 1980, 1 p.m. Thursday, 125 Biochemistry; and Gene Myers, director of information research for Celera Genomics Corporation, 3 p.m. Thursday, 125 Biochemistry.

MacArthur “genius grant” awardees Nancy Moran of the University of Arizona and Jillian Banfield of UW–Madison will also present separate talks. More information: 262-8607.

Forum targets water threats
A public forum Thursday, June 1, will review the latest efforts to clean Wisconsin’s waterways of toxins and examine the health threats posed by environmental pollution. The forum, 1-4:30 p.m., Pyle Center, is the lead event in a two-day scientific symposium Information: 265-2420 or 263-5557.