Broad wins grant to map epigenome

The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT is one of four centers chosen to map the epigenome, the collection of processes that control genetic activity in human cells.

The National Institutes of Health will invest more than $190 million over the next five years to better understand how epigenetic mechanisms affect health. The Broad's five-year, $15 million grant will support the study of at least 100 types of human cells, including human embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells, and others. The project will be led by Dr. Bradley E. Bernstein of the Broad and MIT and Alexander Meissner of the Broad and Harvard.

The other three Reference Epigenome Mapping Centers are at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in San Diego, the University of Washington in Seattle, and the University of California, San Francisco.

Other parts of the NIH epigenomics initiative will concentrate on data analysis and coordination, technology development, and creating chemical tags to mark the epigenomes of mammalian cells.