The Institute of Biosciences and Technology (IBT) recently received a gift of $135,000 from the John S. Dunn Research Foundation. The grant funds were awarded to upgrade IBT mass spectrometry units for nano level analysis and support a Director of a Proteomics and Nanotechnology Laboratory.  The developing facility is housed within the IBT's Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Biology (formerly Center for Cancer Biology and Nutrition).

"Proteomics is the large scale study of proteins in biology.  The expression and activity of proteins are the endpoint products of genes that determine differences between cells and organisms and their interaction with the environment.  The human body has only about 25,000 genes but may have as many as 2 million proteins" says Wallace L. McKeehan, Ph.D., director of the Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Biology and holder of the John S. Dunn Chair at IBT. 

"Proteomic analysis gives a much more complete and dynamic picture than genomics, the analysis of genes and their transcription.  Proteins define the actual functional state of a living cell at any moment in time.  They serve as endpoint biomarkers for diagnosis of disease states and are the actual targets for modification by drugs." 

The facility not only will provide IBT researchers a snapshot of the proteins in their individual experiments, but through its research is pushing proteomic applications to new levels of sensitivity using nanotechnology.  This will allow analysis of minute amounts of sample for example from tumors or diseased foci at their earliest stages.  The IBT represents the Texas A&M Health Science Center on the Steering Committee of the Gulf Coast-based Alliance for Nanohealth.

IBT researchers study a wide range of disease states in mouse, cell and molecular models that will benefit from the facility.  These include cancer, tissue regeneration, birth defects, metabolic diseases and obesity, toxicology, infections, immune deficiencies and cardiovascular diseases.

The John S. Dunn Research Foundation has been instrumental in developing IBT’s research programs through its generous gifts since 1992. Prominent Houston businessman John S. Dunn Sr. established the foundation in Houston in 1977. It supports programs and organizations involved in biomedical research and educational endeavors of benefit to Texans.

The Institute of Biosciences and Technology (IBT) is located in Houston in the Texas Medical Center and is part of The Texas A&M Health Science Center.