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The started five years ago with the goal of creating a comprehensive atlas and open database of gene expression and gene regulation across human tissues. This week, the researchers spearheading the NIH-funded effort reporting on the pilot phase of the project.

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) project, including scientists from the ӳý of MIT and Harvard, have created a new and much-anticipated data resource to help establish how differences in an individual’s genomic make-up can affect gene activity and contribute to disease. The new resource will enable scientists to examine the underlying genomics of many different human tissues and cells at the same time, and promises to open new avenues to the study and understanding of human biology.

Cancer genome sequencing can reveal thousands of mutations per tumor, but scientists need more data to interpret those variants. Since 2011, members of ӳý's Cancer Genome Analysis team have used Oncotator, a tool for annotating cancer-related variants, resulting in more than 20 publications. In the journal , a team led by ӳý researchers Gad Getz, Alex Ramos, and Lee Lichtenstein announced the first public release of Oncotator, which draws information from 14 publicly available cancer resources and is available as a python , as well as a and stand-alone application.

As one of the most commonly altered genes in cancer, MCL1 has been the focus of widespread drug development efforts — but the gene, which encodes a protein that helps keep cells alive, remains an elusive target. A new finding published this week by ӳý researchers is expected to catalyze the development of effective MCL1 inhibitors. The team, led by senior author Michael Serrano-Wu, designed a new MCL1 protein construct that provides a robust solution to a previously intractable structural biology problem. is published online in PLoS One.