Genomics Center hosts Sept. 22 research showcase

The Center for Genomics on Friday, Sept. 22, will dedicate its new Sun Microsystems supercomputer that is fueling new research gains.

Featured guests include officials from Sun Microsystems, which donated the $1.9 million Enterprise 10000 supercomputer to the center last year. In addition to that gift, the UW Foundation has received nearly $600,000 in grants from Sun that support a variety of computer-based research.

Sun officials will announce Friday that UW–Madison is among only a dozen universities the company has named as “Centers of Excellence.” The designation brings with it the promise of future grant support and collaborations between Sun and UW–Madison scientists.

Friday’s event, which begins at 8:55 a.m. in the Biotechnology Center auditorium, 425 Henry Mall, will feature an overview of ongoing and planned research applications of the Sun supercomputer from scientists associated with the Genome Center of Wisconsin.

Projects include an RNA folding experiment that may lead to new ways of interrupting genetic functions; and a massive project in evolutionary genetics that creates “relationship trees” between more than 50 different organisms as well as sequencing and DNA chip projects.