Physiome launches PACE program to promote biological simulations in research
The PACE Program will make its proprietary biological simulation technology available to academic collaborators. In addition, the technology will allow researchers to integrate gene, protein and functional data that are generated in their labs, to simulate and visualize how cells work and the mechanism of disease pathways.
"Since the sequencing of the human genome, the focus has shifted to discovering the biological function of particular genes and to uncover how sets of genes and proteins work together in health and disease," said Donna Rounds, Vice President of Intellectual Property and External Affairs and Manager of The PACE Program. "We are providing academic collaborators with technology and biological model building capabilities, through The PACE Program, to help simulate complex processes."
The PACE Program is designed as an extension of Physiome's efforts to promote the use of biological simulations in medical research. Last year, the company collaborated with the University of Auckland, to launch its CellML (CellML.org) Web site to develop the specifications and capabilities of the CellML language, an XML-based mark-up language designed to represent and exchange computer-based biological models and their components. The technology provided to researchers via The PACE Program will utilize the CellML format to enable the creation of more complex and scalable models.
"The cost of biomedical research has been mounting daily and at the same time there is an explosion in the quantity of the data that is available," said Jeremy Levin, President and CEO of Physiome. "Computer models have become an indispensable tool in other research areas to plan studies, save time and reduce the cost of experimentation. Integrating computer modeling into biological research makes the research dollar go farther and optimizes the use of animal and experimental studies in generating necessary data."