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NIGMS > Minority Programs Update > Winter 2003 > NIGMS Celebrates 40 Years of Discovery, Progress |
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NIGMS Celebrates 40 Years of Discovery, Progress
The year is 1962. John Glenn, Jr., becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, Sam Walton opens the first Wal-Mart, a first-class stamp costs 4 cents, and—most relevant here—NIGMS is created. Established by
Congress to support
research and training in
the “general or basic medical
sciences,” NIGMS has
a strong record of supporting
scientists at the
forefront of their fields. In
its 40-year history, more
than 50 of its grantees
have won Nobel Prizes for
their groundbreaking
research—including two
in 2002. Today, NIGMS has one
of the largest budgets at
NIH, coming in at more
than $1.7 billion. The Institute—which is almost
entirely extramural—funds more than 4,000
research grants to universities, medical schools, hospitals,
and other research institutions. Its broad
interests lie in areas such as cell, molecular, developmental
and computational biology; genetics;
chemistry; and pharmacology. Basic studies in these
and other areas covered by NIGMS increase our
understanding of life processes and lay the foundation
for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment,
and prevention. The Institute has a longstanding commitment
to increasing the number and competitiveness
of minority biomedical and behavioral scientists.
Through the MORE Division, NIGMS has helped
thousands of minority students pursue degrees
in science and has enhanced research and training
at minority-serving institutions throughout
the country. Adding to the air of celebration at
NIGMS, both of MORE’s branches—MARC
and MBRS—commemorated their 30th anniversaries
in 2002.
Training Tomorrow’s Scientists
Since its inception, NIGMS has been dedicated
to teaching students how to become independent
researchers. Nearly half of all NIH predoctoral
trainees, and a large portion of postdoctoral
trainees, receive their support from NIGMS.Recognizing that the most significant biomedical
investigations often involve and affect several
different fields, the Institute designed its training
programs to cut across disciplinary and departmental
lines. In addition, NIGMS has several
programs that address areas of critical scientific
need. One of these, the Medical Scientist Training
Program, leads to a combined M.D.-Ph.D. degree
and prepares scientists to bridge the gap between
basic and clinical research. Other programs train
scientists to conduct research in the rapidly growing
field of biotechnology and at the interface between
chemistry and biology. The Institute also sponsors
a Pharmacology Research Associate Program—its
only intramural activity—that trains postdoctoral
scientists in pharmacology in NIH and Food and
Drug Administration laboratories and clinics. Forging Paths into New Areas
In the late 1990s, NIGMS held meetings with
leaders of the scientific community to get
their advice and vision on new directions in
science and the needs of researchers. A common
theme emerged: Solving many of the most
complex—and interesting—questions in biology
requires interdisciplinary cooperation and
multifaceted approaches. In response, NIGMS
established collaborative and integrative grants
(better known as “glue” grants) to bring together
large groups of scientists from diverse fields to
help tackle these complicated research problems.Another area that benefits from NIGMS’
emphasis on collaboration is pharmacogenetics,
the study of how genes affect the way people
respond to medicines. Already, more than a dozen
NIGMS-sponsored research teams have begun
unraveling why the same dose of a drug can help
some people, have no effect on others, and
harm a few. This knowledge can allow
physicians to tailor the doses of certain
medications and save lives.
The Institute recognizes that vast scientific
treasures are hidden within the
burgeoning masses of genome sequence
and other biological data. To mine these
will require quantitative tools and
approaches. Beginning in 1998, NIGMS
created a set of initiatives to encourage
mathematicians, physicists, computer
scientists, and engineers to apply their
expertise to biomedical research. In 2001,
to serve as the focal point for such activities,
NIGMS created its newest component,
the Center for Bioinformatics and
Computational Biology. NIGMS has also capitalized on
advances in genome sequencing through
its Protein Structure Initiative. Launched
in 2000, this project builds on the
Institute’s significant investment in
structural biology. The goal is to solve
the structures of 10,000 genetically
unique proteins in 10 years, enabling
scientists to produce an inventory of all
the shapes that proteins can take in nature.
This, in turn, will help make it possible
to predict the structure of any protein
based on its sequence. To further advance the field of
molecular structure determination,
NIGMS funds the cutting-edge equipment
and facilities necessary for these
studies. In recent years, the Institute
has supported construction of the most
powerful NMR magnets available (900
MHz) and, together with the National
Cancer Institute, it is funding the design
and construction of three beamlines at
Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced
Photon Source, the newest and most
advanced synchrotron in the country. A Bright Future
“The most important biomedical
questions today—how genes are regulated,
how cells and organisms develop
and function, and what causes cellular
processes to go awry—have not changed
much in the last four decades,” says
Dr. Judith H. Greenberg, acting director
of NIGMS. “But the level of detail at
which we can answer these questions has
changed dramatically. This progress not
only helps us understand the biological
basis of life, it has also been translated
into new approaches to treating and
preventing diseases.”For 40 years, NIGMS has been at the
leading edge of supporting this progress. As
it continues to champion basic research,
to train future scientists, and to forge
paths into new areas, its future promises
to hold even more exciting and significant
advances.
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