[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 126 (Tuesday, July 1, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35476-35478]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-17161]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Research


Energy Research Financial Assistance Program Notice 97-17; Human 
Genome Program--Technologies in Support of the DOE Joint Genome 
Institute

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER) of the 
Office of Energy Research (ER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), hereby 
announces its interest in receiving applications for support of the 
Human Genome Program. This Program is a coordinated multidisciplinary 
research effort to develop creative, innovative resources and 
technologies that lead to a molecular level understanding of the human 
genome. As one aspect of this program, the DOE is establishing a 
``Joint Genome Institute'' (JGI) to develop a DNA sequencing factory. 
The JGI will oversee a central sequencing facility that will initially 
have parallel production lines that use shotgun and transposon-based 
directed sequencing approaches. This dual approach is intended to 
evolve into an optimized and unified sequencing strategy within two to 
three years. This unified strategy will take advantage of technologies 
and expertise at the JGI and in the broader research community. An 
important aspect of developing this automated facility will be the 
establishment of

[[Page 35477]]

external collaborations and partnerships aimed at technology 
development. The JGI's genomic sequencing program will also be coupled 
to a collection of experimental functional genomics approaches designed 
to provide a partial functional characterization of the genes as they 
are revealed by the sequencing. Here, the primary goal will be to 
develop cost-effective approaches that can yield worthwhile functional 
information. A related goal is to develop improved ways of integrating 
human genomics with the information coming from model organism 
genomics.

DATES: Preapplications referencing Program Notice 97-17 should be 
received by August 1, 1997. Formal applications in response to this 
notice must be received by 4:30 p.m., E.D.T., October 16, 1997, to be 
accepted for merit review and to permit timely consideration for award 
in FY 1998.

ADDRESSES: Preapplications referencing Program Notice 97-17 should be 
sent to Dr. Marvin E. Frazier, Office of Health and Environmental 
Research, ER-72, Office of Energy Research, U.S. Department of Energy, 
19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290; e-mail is acceptable 
for submitting preapplications using the following address: 
[email protected]. Formal applications referencing Program 
Notice 97-17 should be forwarded to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office 
of Energy Research, Grants and Contracts Division, ER-64, 19901 
Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, ATTN: Program Notice 97-17. 
This address must be used when submitting applications by U.S. Postal 
Service Express Mail or any commercial mail delivery service, or when 
hand-carried by the applicant. An original and seven copies of the 
application must be submitted; however, applicants are requested not to 
submit multiple application copies using more than one delivery or mail 
service.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Marvin E. Frazier, ER-72, Office 
of Health and Environmental Research, Office of Energy Research, U.S. 
Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-1290, 
telephone: (301) 903-6488, e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The goal of this notice is to support 
technology development that serves the needs of the Department of 
Energy's (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI). The DOE JGI is developing 
a high throughput DNA sequencing factory. This factory will take 
advantage of the complementing strengths of each of the three current 
DOE Genome Centers: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), 
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Los Alamos National 
Laboratory (LANL). The JGI Sequencing Factory will be physically 
located in proximity to LLNL and LBNL. The Scientific Director of the 
DOE Human Genome Program, Dr. Elbert Branscomb, is the leader of the 
JGI. With respect to the JGI genomic sequencing task, the specific 
goals are: (1) To establish a cooperative technology development 
project with an outside entity that will produce, within two years, an 
automated DNA sequencing production line based on either shotgun or 
directed strategies; and (2) to develop and implement technologies for 
automated and advanced high-throughput DNA sequencing that can be 
integrated into the unified sequencing production strategy that is 
identified and implemented at the JGI.
    In support of the first goal, the grantee will form a close 
collaboration with the JGI aimed at technology co-development and 
transfer for high throughput production DNA sequencing. A critical 
success factor for this effort will be the construction of a new, 
highly automated pilot DNA sequencing production line at the JGI within 
6 to 9 months of the project's start. The grantee, working in 
conjunction with the JGI, will help build and maintain automated 
devices as appropriate for this pilot line (e.g., those for DNA 
purification, DNA sequencing, and automated finishing). It is 
anticipated that this pilot DNA sequencing production line may use, in 
significant part, technology supplied by the grantee. The second phase 
of the project, to be completed within two years, will be the 
development of a high throughput DNA sequencing production line. It is 
anticipated that this production line will lead current technology in 
automation and the minimization of human labor and will ultimately 
produce 100-200 Mb of finished human genomic sequence per year. It is 
also expected that, in close cooperation with the JGI, the grantee will 
use the technology being supplied to perform a significant amount of 
DNA sequencing on targets that support the DOE effort. This would be 
designed to drive the technology development and to permit 
modifications in technology between the pilot and production phases to 
be evaluated and validated under high throughput conditions. It is 
estimated that one major award, for a total of approximately $4 million 
in FY 1998, will be made.
    In support of the second sequencing goal, technology developments 
aimed at improving the constituent technologies and overall performance 
of the JGI DNA sequencing production line are sought. These could 
include: innovative instrumentation and automated systems that offer 
the potential for rapid, cost-effective sequencing of approximately a 
million bases per day; for non-gel techniques and direct imaging 
approaches; for development of applied genome informatics software for 
use in DNA sequencing and functional interpretation, including 
information retrieval; for user interfaces compatible with Genome Data 
Base (GDB), Genome Sequence DataBase (GSDB), and GenBank; and for 
communications, software engineering, and data management. Improved 
algorithms and hardware for DNA sequence annotation, including 
identification of homologies, regulatory sites, and protein coding 
regions can also be included. It is anticipated that between 2-4 awards 
for a total of up to $1 million could be made in FY 1998.
    With respect to the functional genomics and model organism goals, 
projects in the following program areas are solicited: (1) Strategies 
for full-length cDNA clone generation and sequencing and for 
economically and accurately determining transcript lengths and types; 
(2) strategies for expression mapping, sub-cellular localization, and 
pathway tracing; (3) economical approaches for revealing single base 
pair polymorphisms and for characterizing their haplotypes; and (4) 
affordable approaches for using model organisms to systematically 
relate phenotype information to anonymous genes discovered in the human 
genome. It is anticipated that between 2-4 awards for pilot and proof-
of-principle studies, for a total of up to $1 million could be made in 
FY 1998.
    Potential applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a brief 
preapplication that consists of two to three pages of narrative 
describing the research objectives and methods of accomplishment. 
Preapplications will be reviewed relative to the scope and research 
needs of the DOE Human Genome Program, as outlined in the summary 
paragraph and in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Principal investigator 
address, telephone number, FAX number, and e-mail address are required 
as part of the preapplication. A response to each preapplication 
discussing the potential programmatic relevance of a formal application 
generally will be communicated to the Principal Investigator within 21 
days of receipt. ER's preapplication policy can be found on ER's Grants 
and Contracts Web Site at: http://www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/
preapp.html.

[[Page 35478]]

    It is anticipated that approximately $6 million will be available 
for grant awards during FY 1998, contingent upon availability of 
appropriated funds. Multiple year funding of grant awards is expected, 
with out-year funding also contingent upon the availability of 
appropriated funds, progress of the research, and programmatic needs. 
It is expected that most awards will be from one to three years and 
that there will be one award for approximately $4 million per year 
(total costs) with the remaining 4-6 awards in the $200 thousand to 
$400 thousand per year (total costs) range. The dissemination of 
materials and research data in a timely manner is essential for 
progress towards the goals of the DOE Human Genome Program. OHER 
requires the timely sharing of resources and data. Applicants should, 
in their applications, discuss their plans for disseminating research 
data and materials which may include, where appropriate, putting cell 
lines, probes, sequence data, etc., into public repositories. Funds to 
defray the costs of disseminating materials or submitting data to 
repositories are allowable; however, such requests must be adequately 
justified.
    Applications will be subjected to formal merit review (peer review) 
and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria which 
are listed in descending order of importance codified at 10 CFR 
605.10(d):
    1. Scientific and/or Technical Merit of the Project;
    2. Appropriateness of the Proposed Method or Approach;
    3. Competency of Applicant's personnel and Adequacy of Proposed 
Resources;
    4. Reasonableness and Appropriateness of the Proposed Budget.
    The evaluation will include program policy factors such as the 
relevance of the proposed research to the terms of the announcement and 
an agency's programmatic needs. Note, external peer reviewers are 
selected with regard to both their scientific expertise and the absence 
of conflict-of-interest issues. Non-federal reviewers will often be 
used, and submission of an application constitutes agreement that this 
is acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution.
    Information about development and submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other 
policies and procedures may be found in the ER Application Guide for 
the Office of Energy Research Financial Assistance Program 10 CFR Part 
605, which is available on the World Wide Web at: http://
www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. The ER, as part of its 
grant regulations, requires at 10 CFR 605.11(b) that a grantee funded 
by ER and performing research involving recombinant DNA molecules and/
or organisms and viruses containing recombinant DNA molecules shall 
comply with the National Institutes of Health ``Guidelines for Research 
Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules'' (51 FR 16958, May 7, 1986), or 
such later revision of those guidelines as may be published in the 
Federal Register.

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number for this 
program is 81.049 and the solicitation control number is ERFAP 10 
CFR Part 605.

    Issued in Washington, DC on June 20, 1997.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director for Resource Management, Office of Energy Research.
[FR Doc. 97-17161 Filed 6-30-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P