[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 226 (Tuesday, November 24, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64944-64946]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-31367]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Office of Science; Office of Science Financial Assistance Program 
Notice 99-04: Human Genome Program--Technological Advances

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice inviting grant applications.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER) of 
the Office of Science (SC), U.S. Department of Energy, hereby announces 
its interest in receiving grant applications in support of the DOE 
Human Genome Program (HGP). This program is a coordinated, 
multidisciplinary, goal-oriented research effort to obtain a detailed 
understanding of the human genome at the molecular level. High 
throughput sequencing is now a major focus of the program, but needs 
for supporting resources and technologies remain in several areas.

DATES: Potential applicants are encouraged to submit a brief 
preapplication. All preapplications, referencing Program Notice 99-04, 
should be received by DOE by 4:30 p.m., E.S.T., December 3, 1998. A 
response to the preapplications discussing the potential program 
relevance and encouraging or discouraging a formal application 
generally will be communicated within several days of receipt.
    Formal applications submitted in response to this notice must be 
received by 4:30 p.m., E.S.T., February 23, 1999, in order to be 
accepted for merit review and to permit timely consideration for award 
in FY 1999.

ADDRESSES: Preapplications, referencing Program Notice 99-04, should be 
sent preferable by E-mail to [email protected], however, 
preapplications will also be accepted if mailed to the following 
address: Ms. Joanne Corcoran, Office of Biological and Environmental 
Research, SC-72, U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, 
Germantown, MD 20874-1290, or transmitted by facsimile to (301) 903-
8521.
    After receiving notification from DOE concerning successful 
preapplications, applicants may prepare formal applications and send 
them to: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Grants and 
Contracts Division, SC-64, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874-
1290, ATTN: Program Notice 99-04. The above address for formal 
applications also must be used for transmission by U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail, any commercial mail

[[Page 64945]]

delivery service, or when hand carried by the applicant. An original 
and seven copies of the application must be submitted.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Marvin Stodolsky if referencing 
topics (1-4) and Dr. Daniel Drell if referencing topic (5) and Ms. 
Joanne Corcoran for general program information. Their email addresses 
are [email protected], [email protected] and 
[email protected] with telephone exchange (301) 903 and 
respective extensions 4475, 4742 and 6488. E-mail communications are 
preferred. General HGP information can also be obtained with Internet 
browsers at: http://www.er.doe.gov/production/ober/hug__top.html,
http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human__Genome/home.html, and sites 
linked to these WWW pages. The solicitation topics are in accordance 
with the 1998 revision of the 5-year goals of the U.S. HGP. It is 
published in the October 21, 1998 issue of the journal, Science, volume 
282 and is available on the Internet at: http://www.ornl.gov/hg5yp. The 
full text of Program Notice 99-04 is available via the Internet using 
the following web site address: http://www.er.doe.gov/production/
grants/grants.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under this solicitation near term resource 
development or improvements are sought in: (1) Large insert DNA clone 
libraries and their characterization; (2) chemistries and 
biochemistries for DNA sequencing; (3) protocols and reagents for full 
length messenger RNA to cDNA production and sequencing; (4) 
characterizing exceptional chromosomal regions including those near 
telomeres and centromers by sequencing and/or other relevant 
methodologies; and (5) computational processing of sequence information 
including viewing, curating, and integrating. Instrumentation 
development complementary to these topics was sought under a separate 
solicitation and is specifically excluded from this call.

Topic Details

    The goal of (1), large insert DNA clone libraries and their 
characterization, is to provide additional resources in support of 
human and mouse genomics, and perform characterizations supportive of 
genomic sequencing. The vectors for the libraries should be of the 
generic BAC (bacterial artificial chromosomes) type, supporting stable 
maintenance of their inserts in bacterial hosts. For a mouse library, 
the C57Bl/6J strain should be the source of the DNA, with a 10-15 fold 
genome coverage sought. There should be two sub-libraries, with DNA 
fragments generated by different restriction nucleases to diminish 
representation biases. Also to diminish representation biases, DNA 
breakage by shearing only is a desired substitute to breakage by 
restriction. If this improvement can be implemented quickly, both mouse 
and human libraries produced from sheared DNAs are sought. Companion 
quality control analyses must be specified. Separate applications are 
sought for more extensive characterization of the BACs by restriction 
fingerprinting, end sequencing of inserts, cDNA mapping onto BACs and/
or other high throughput methodologies supportive of genomics projects.
    The goal of (2), chemistries and biochemistries for DNA sequencing, 
is to further bring speed and economies to DNA sequencing through 
improvements in reagents such as enzymes, their substrates, reporting 
labels and related protocols.
    The goal of (3), protocols and reagents for full length messenger 
RNA to cDNA production and sequencing, is to address outstanding needs 
in characterizing messenger RNA populations of tissues, as represented 
by more stable derivative libraries of cDNAs. Particularly for human 
sources, obtaining mRNAs with minimal degradation remains troublesome. 
For longer mRNAs, faithful conversion to cDNAs is problematic. Within 
completed libraries, identifying optimal representatives for complete 
sequencing is still time consuming and expensive. For cDNAs in the few 
kilobase size range, full length sequencing does not yet have the 
economies of sequencing longer DNAs. Applications which address these 
problem areas are sought. Reports on recent workshops on cDNAs can be 
accessed on the Internet through the WWW site http://www.ornl.gov/
meetings/wccs/index.html.
    The goal of (4), characterizing exceptional chromosomal regions 
including those near telomeres and centromers by sequencing and/or 
other relevant methodologies, recognizes that current sequencing 
strategies may prove inadequate for chromosomal regions which are 
troubled by abundant repeat structures, or are the boundaries of 
heterochromatin and euchromatin regions. Applications addressing these 
problem areas specifically as they apply to chromosomes 5, 16 and 19 
are sought.
    The goal of (5) computational processing of sequence information 
including viewing, curating, and integrating, seeks ways to more 
efficiently and more accurately assemble partial DNA sequences, to 
identify regions of biological significance, and to more efficiently 
utilize previously determined DNA sequence to identify polymorphisms 
and to characterize related but not yet sequenced DNA. An additional 
interest is identification of useful standards, which may include (but 
is not limited to) controlled vocabularies, data types, and annotation 
types. Standards development must proceed with user community input. A 
report on a May, 1998 workshop on informatics needs can be accessed on 
the Internet at: http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human__Genome/
publicat/hgn/v9n3/02doenih.html

Program Funding

    It is anticipated that a total of $7,000,000 will be available for 
grant awards in this area during FY 1999 and FY 2000, contingent upon 
availability of appropriated funds. Multiple year funding of grant 
awards is expected, and is also contingent upon availability of funds, 
progress of the research, and continuing program need. Projected awards 
will be in the range of $50,000 per year up to $1,000,000 per year with 
terms of 2 to 3 years.
    Applications will be subjected to scientific merit review (peer 
review) and will be evaluated against the following evaluation criteria 
listed in descending order of importance as 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 may be used, and 
submission of an application constitutes agreement that this is 
acceptable to the investigator(s) and the submitting institution.
    Information about the development and submission of applications, 
eligibility, limitations, evaluation, selection process, and other 
policies and procedures may be found in 10 CFR Part 605, and in the 
Application Guide for the Office of Science Financial Assistance 
Program. Electronic access to

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the Guide and required forms is made available via the World Wide Web 
at: http://www.er.doe.gov/production/grants/grants.html. The Project 
Description must be 25 pages or less, exclusive of attachments. The 
application must contain an abstract or project summary, letters of 
intent from collaborators, and short curriculum vitaes consistent with 
NIH guidelines.
    The Office of Science, as part of its grant regulations, requires 
at 10 CFR 605.11(b) that a recipient receiving a grant to perform 
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'', which is available via the world wide web 
at: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/odhsb/biosafe/nih/nih97-1.html, (59 FR 
34496, July 5, 1994), 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, D.C. on November 9, 1998.
John Rodney Clark,
Associate Director of Science for Resource Management.
[FR Doc. 98-31367 Filed 11-23-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P