SDSC Launches BioNOME Resource
with $900,000 Procter & Gamble Gift

October 15, 1997--SDSC received a $900,000 gift from Procter & Gamble to develop the Biology Network of Modeling Efforts (BioNOME) Resource. The Web-accessible BioNOME will enable scientists around the world to build better models of how animals and humans undertake the processes of life. Scientists can contribute to the Web site mathematical models they have created that describe how living systems regulate themselves and interact with each other. The models are then incorporated into the site with active links, allowing for collaboration and sharing of research results.

The project's initial efforts will focus on models that describe how chemicals carry messages between and within cells and models of how the heart functions. These models might then be linked or combined to provide new knowledge on such issues as the causes of heart failure.

Andrew McCulloch, a co-director of the program and professor of bioengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, anticipates that this type of computer modeling will enable the development of new drugs with more carefully targeted modes of action and fewer side effects, as well as better medical devices and improved medical diagnostic procedures.

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