Voronezh has stepped into the future by creating a research institute of post-genomic technologies
A unique research institute will deal with the problems
at the forefront of modern science
Anna Filatova, Voronezh City Portal 36on.Ru
The "Research Institute of Postgenomic Technologies" has been operating in Voronezh for more than six months.
The research Institute was opened in December last year. It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the research conducted by the Institute's specialists, since it is with the help of the latest developments that genetic scientists are now doing everything possible to learn how to effectively predict the risk of developing cancer.
Voronezh was not chosen by chance as the city for the opening of a unique institute. The fact is that in Voronezh today there is a powerful technological and scientific base, on the basis of which unique research is carried out today in the direction of the development of modern molecular genetic technologies.
– The unique Research Institute was created on behalf of the Governor of the Voronezh Region Alexey Gordeev in order to increase the efficiency of the oncological service in the region, – explains the director of the Research Institute of Postgenomic Technologies Andrey Ascheulov, – and the development of this direction is impossible without the use of molecular genetic diagnostic methods.
According to experts, postgenomic technologies are currently the most relevant direction in the work on improving the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases. There are only three institutes like Voronezh in Russia. Scientists' research is aimed at identifying not the disease as such, but people in whose genes there is one or another mutation that increases the risk of developing cancer.
– It is difficult to catch the moment when the first cancer cell appears in the human body, – explains Andrey Ascheulov, – our task is not even to detect cancer at an early stage, but to accurately determine the risk of cancer occurrence and development. Our research involves, for example, women whose mother or sister suffered from breast cancer. Blood is taken from them, which is then sent for analysis, where genetic material is extracted from it, which is examined for the presence of mutations predisposing to the occurrence of cancer.
The initiator of the creation of the Research Institute was the Voronezh "Agency for Innovation and Development" on behalf of the Governor Alexey Gordeev. The founders of the Research Institute are Voronezh State University, as well as representatives of the Voronezh Regional Oncological Dispensary and other organizations.
As part of the Institute's work, a Competence Center in the field of post–genomic technologies is being formed – its main task will be the introduction of a new type of diagnostics in oncology, which allows taking into account individual genetic characteristics - personalized medicine based on the analysis of the patient's genome. This will allow the use of advanced research and technology by all clinics in the region.
The Research Institute of Postgenomic Technologies, together with the Department of Genetics of the VSU and the Oncological dispensary, is developing new methods of analysis in oncology based on the individual characteristics of patients' genes. In the future, this will not only make the treatment more effective, but also in the future will save the budget millions of rubles.
In addition, the Research Institute will allow creating new knowledge based on biomedical information about genes, their interactions, medicines and technologies, which will provide an opportunity to train unique specialists in the field of biology and medicine, provide powerful information support to medical institutions – which means it will improve the quality of life of patients, which each of us can become.
Within the framework of cooperation with VSU and other interested universities of the city, seminars, lectures and symposiums will be held with the involvement of leading domestic and foreign scientists. And this, in turn, will contribute to improving the rating of universities and improving the image of the region as a whole.
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08.07.2015