[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 joanne.corcoran@oer.doe.gov, 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 marvin.stodolsky@oer.doe.gov, daniel.drell@oer.doe.gov and
joanne.corcoran@oer.doe.gov 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
