Biotech Island: State Pledges $20 Million to
CSHL for Bioinformatics Research
On September 24, New York State Governor George Pataki made an announcement at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory that promises to transform biomedical research on Long Island.
Joined by a delegation of State Senators including Dean Skelos, Charles J. Fuschillo, Kemp Hannon, and Carl Marcellino, the Governor pledged $48 million in state funding to support a $72 million initiative that will bolster the fledgling Long Island biotechnology industry. The majority of these funds, $20 million of which was earmarked for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, will be used to create a Bioinformatics Research Center at CSHL and an incubator for biotechnology startups—anchored by OSI Pharmaceuticals—at the Broad Hollow Bioscience Park at SUNY Farmingdale.
Much work remains to be done to translate the promise of DNA science into new therapies for human disease. Bioinformatics (the application of computer science to biological research) and the identification of small molecule therapies are crucial components for success in this arena. The $20 million pledge of state support for bioinformatics research at CSHL will provide an immediate and much-needed stimulus for analyzing the vast amount of information that is emerging from the nearly-completed Human Genome Project. This effort to map and sequence the genetic blueprint stored within the DNA of our chromosomes is poised to yield many new treatments for a wide variety of human diseases including cancer and heart disease.
Governor George Pataki announces state support for biomedical research to an audience at CSHL's Grace Auditorium. The Governor is joined on stage by (standing, left to right) Colin Goddard (Chairman and CEO, OSI Pharmaceuticals), Senator Dean Skelos, James Watson (President, CSHL), and Bruce Stillman (Director and CEO, CSHL). |
For example, by using bioinformatics (combined with other methods) to compare human DNA samples isolated from normal cells versus tumor biopsies, CSHL researchers have recently identified some 14 new candidate cancer genes. These genes, once confirmed to be bona fide cancer genes, are prime targets for improved methods to diagnose and treat the disease.
With respect to the newly-announced state support of the Long Island biotechnology industry, OSI Pharmaceuticals has a strong potential fr success: Among its other achievements, the company recently received "fast track" approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its lung cancer drug, Tarceva. Tarceva joins a handful of new cancer therapies from various companies that are targeted to specific, well-defined molecular defects within cancer cells. This new generation of highly-specific cancer therapies, which should soon expand from a handful to an armload, promises to provide more effective treatment with fewer undesirable side effects.
Such therapies ultimately stem from basic cancer research like that carried out at CSHL. For example, the first human cancer-associated oncogene, called RAS, was discovered by Michael Wigler and his colleagues at the Laboratory in 1981. Drugs that target the hyperactive RAS pathway found in many cancers are currently in clinical trials. Emerging technologies (some invented at CSHL) coupled with the growth of bioinformatics research at the Laboratory have increased the frequency with which new molecular targets for cancer therapy are being identified. The next, achievable goal is to shorten the time between target discovery and the development of corresponding therapies.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and several other centers on Long Island including Stony Brook University and the North Shore-LIJ Health System—combined with the proximity of these centers to the resources of New York City—provide a strong foundation for a "Biotech Island" stretching from Queens to Suffolk. The recently-announced initiative and the future support of state and federal legislators will ensure that Long Island in general, and CSHL in particular, continue to play a decisive role in ultimately controlling cancer and other causes of human suffering.
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