Good evening President and co-Chairman. First, let me pay tribute to the
Swiss Proteomics Society for masterminding this Congress for its third
consecutive year - this time at the traditional home of Swiss pharma in
Basel and in a difficult economic climate when the biopharma sector is
struggling to be successful.
The Organising Committee come from all over Switzerland and include
research, academic institutions and industry. This is an excellent
example of cooperation between individuals and organisations that are
also competitors. Their common aim is scientific excellence, innovation
and progress right across different scientific disciplines, academic
institutions and commercial interests.
The Organising Committee have also assembled an impressive cast of
expert speakers and participants from all over the world who are joining
this Congress over the next two days.
I'm delighted to be here and to be talking about proteomics in a
country with such an excellent reputation in this exciting new science.
These first years of the twenty-first century are exhilarating times
for biomedical research. The completion of the Human Genome Project -
and to some extent this year's celebration of the 50th anniversary of
the discovery of the structure of DNA - have raised public awareness of
the potential of genomics to bring about major advances in medical
science. Genomics and its fellow "Omics" - disciplines such as
proteomics - have been thrust under the media spotlight as developments
relating to particular diseases are reported to a public confidently
expecting the Human Genome Project to provide answers for all the
medical conditions we have been so far unable to conquer.
As UK Science Minister and the Minister with responsibility for
bioscience companies, I am very well aware of the often difficult and
lengthy route between the first association of a gene or protein with a
disease and using that knowledge to find an effective therapy. It is
important that we do not exaggerate the significance of the first steps
in the process especially when the research involves life-threatening
conditions for which treatments are urgently needed. But neither should
we downplay the potential of this science and its underpinning
technologies, especially as genomics and, increasingly, proteomics are
providing us with new drug and diagnostic targets.
Proteomics has a growing number of applications in medical research
such as elucidating biochemical pathways, finding new drug and
diagnostic targets, assisting in the assessment and prediction of
efficacy and side effects of drugs. Proteomics is also being studied in
relation to many diseases including cancer, heart disease, diabetes and
infectious diseases.
Let me highlight briefly some of the interesting developments taking
place in the UK today:
One example of the use of proteomics in the fight against cancer is a
small company, KuDOS, that has been involved in a programme funded by my
own Department and two UK Research Councils to help industry use
advances in genomics and proteomics to develop new healthcare products
and services. In collaboration with Cambridge University and Hammersmith
Hospital in London, KuDOS is using proteomics technology, specifically
two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis, to look at DNA repair
pathways in cancer cells. Both radiotherapy and chemotherapy attempt to
kill tumour cells by inducing DNA damage. Tumour resistance to these
treatments often involves active DNA damage repair and KuDOS's approach
to finding new cancer therapies is to inhibit this repair. If the
oncologist knows which repair pathways are lost and which are still
functional in the cancer cells to be treated, it will help in choosing
the most effective drug to inhibit the remaining pathways. KuDOS have
already identified a number of potential biomarkers for each DNA repair
pathway that they aim to use in combination with small molecule
inhibitors in early phase clinical trials within the next year or so.
Ultimately, this type of approach to cancer therapy should increase the
chances of getting the drugs to market and provide more effective
treatment for patients suffering from cancer.
A collaboration, between the University of Westminster in the UK and
the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, is developing a proteomics-based
technique for analysing biopsies of breast tissue for cancer. The new
technique will look at levels of hundreds of proteins simultaneously and
is claimed to be more accurate than assessing tissue cells by eye. As
proteomics profiles from different patients are recorded and compared,
this kind of approach could also provide indicators of the best
therapeutic approach for a particular patient.
Another UK company, Proteome Sciences, is using its proteomics
technology to seek out protein biomarkers and therapeutic targets for a
number of diseases including highly sensitive techniques to detect
indications of neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson's and
Alzheimer's diseases. They are collaborating with a number of other
companies and organisations including the University of Geneva and the
National Institutes of Health in the US.
As the applications of proteomics expand, the UK is fortunate to be
able to build on its existing protein expertise to bring added value to
international collaborations and launch world-class products. Proteomics
has been a priority in our public science funding for some time. Our
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the BBSRC, has
funded proteomics centres in Cambridge, Manchester, Aberdeen and Norwich
that are developing underpinning technologies and bioinformatics for
both healthcare and non-medical proteomics applications. These have been
joined on the UK proteomics scene by new centres such as those at
Liverpool and Nottingham Universities.
MRC and BBSRC are now joining together with the Engineering and
Physical Sciences Research Council to launch a joint initiative worth up
to £12M for an interdisciplinary research centre for development of
proteomic technology which will bring together researchers from across a
range of relevant disciplines in large scale, adventurous and
multi-disciplinary research partnerships. They will tackle the generic
challenges of characterising protein populations and this should lead to
new tools for proteomic analysis.
The technical challenges faced in proteomics are, of course,
formidable. These stem from the many thousands of proteins contained in
the proteome with their diverse structures which give rise to a vast
range of biological, physical and chemical properties and the huge
differences found between expression levels of different proteins. This
is without taking into account many other factors such as "post-translational"
chemical modifications of proteins, the complex networks of protein
interactions that can only be visualised fully with the help of computer
software, the different distributions of proteins within the cell and
the variations of protein expression over time.
However, these complexities are an opportunity for companies to
provide innovative solutions that will assist researchers and speed
advances in healthcare. I am pleased to say that in addition to
well-known players such as Amersham and Micromass, a number of smaller
UK companies have been successful in meeting the proteomics challenge.
These are far to numerous to list but include NextGen's automated gel
electrophoresis and protein expression systems, Ludger's analysis system
for glycoproteins, the software developed by Nonlinear Dynamics for
analysis of proteomics gels and arrays and the protein modelling
software produced by Proteom and Inpharmatica for drug discovery.
The study of protein structure is also important and a priority for
public funding. The Medical Research Council awarded £6.4M to Oxford
University in 2001 to establish a pilot protein production facility
directed by Professor David Stuart. The facility seeks to achieve
high-throughput production of proteins and protein crystals by
automating and miniaturizing all stages of the process. The pilot is on
target to provide 100 protein crystals a month and is involved in a
diverse range of projects including analysis of the SARS virus proteome.
Protein structure researchers will also be able to make good use of
Diamond, the third-generation synchrotron radiation source now being
built in Oxfordshire.
Automated and high throughput systems are leading to the accumulation
of vast amounts of data. It is important that data is captured and
stored in such a way that it can be interpreted and used by researchers
as widely as possible. To this end, BBSRC-funded scientists have claimed
an international lead in the development of a systematic approach to
modelling, capturing and disseminating proteomics experimental data,
proposing the draft international standard, "PEDRo". This sort
of standardisation is vital in the era of Systems Biology when models of
living systems are being assembled using information on molecular
interactions and biochemical pathways.
So, let me now come back to the cradle of Swiss pharma here in Basel
and, indeed, the entire biopharma sector of Switzerland beyond Basel.
We in the UK are very keen to work with Switzerland in this area.
Ernst & Young's European Biotechnology Report 2003 has Switzerland
in 6th place for number of active companies; understandably some way
behind Germany, the UK and France respectively; but close behind Sweden
and Israel.
But the same study has Switzerland second only behind the UK, the
European leader, in terms of industry market capitalisation and
revenues, as well as therapeutic product pipelines and capital raising
capability.
The low level of commercial activity, biomedical science remains the
focus of unprecedented levels of public interest and expectations.
Proteomics technologies will underpin the search for new and more
effective therapies and the early detection of disease.
I look forward to Britain and Switzerland working ever more closely
together in these highly promising areas.
We in the UK want to be a key knowledge hub in the global economy,
with a reputation not only for outstanding scientific and technological
discovery, but also a world leader in turning that knowledge into new
and exciting products and services. We also want to be a country with
strong science and technological links with the best research around the
world, a high priority in Switzerland, and biomedical science and
proteomics technology are high up on our agenda.
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