03 May 2001

(From Science press release) In a prime example of what science can accomplish in the "post-genomic" era, researchers have pieced together the functions of a variety of genes involved in a yeast metabolism pathway. If an organism's whole genome is sequenced, it should generally be possible to improve models of various pathways by identifying all the known genes involved, interfering with each one, and studying the effects on the whole system. For Trey Ideker and colleagues [writing in 4 May issue of Science], taking this approach to the yeast galactose utilization pathway meant using DNA microarrays, proteomics, and databases of known physical interactions. By integrating information from all these sources, the authors were able to generate and test hypotheses about the regulation of galactose utilization and interactions between this and other metabolic pathways.

Email address for Trey Ideker: trunk@u.washington.edu