A partnership between the University and Eureka Genomics, a three-month-old bio computational company, is collecting and analyzing genetic material.
Computational programs developed by the UH Bioinformatics Lab, led by Yuriy Fofanov, associate professor of computer science, are also collaborating with other institutions, such as the University of Arizona.
The research is expected to track and improve the fields of medicine and agriculture.
"If mutations happen in food, you need to monitor it," Fofanov said of changes that evolve naturally through the food’s generations. "You have to monitor the integrity of yogurt or cheese."
Eureka Genomics is based in Houston and specializes in accumulating information and analyzing biotechnological material such as genome sequences found in DNA. The partnership with UH is expected to develop practical bio-products and services that will make medicine cheaper and more widely available to the public.
"By applying our knowledge of genetic variation, there will be fewer adverse drug reactions," Heather Koshinsky, chief scientific officer of Eureka Genomics, said.
As every person and disease is different, the knowledge to make a cure based on every person’s ailment and temperament as well as a disease’s genomic structure is a powerful tool, officials said.
"(The partnership members) look for mismatches," Erik Engquist, the visualization manager of the Texas Learning Center, said of genetic changes occurring in nature. "They want to know how much these things differ."
New computational tools will be designed to compare genomic sequences in a matter of minutes, focusing in regions that stand out from the norm, Fofanov said in a release.
