NIH Illuminating the Druggable Genome Program
The NIH Common Fund’s Illuminating the Druggable Genome (IDG) program aims to increase the understanding of the properties and functions of poorly understood proteins within four of the most commonly drug-targeted protein families, the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), nuclear receptors (NRs), ion channels, and protein kinases. By Illuminating the Druggable Genome, a focus will be turned on the “dark matter” of the Druggable Genome through deep annotation to establish function and potential role in disease. Through expanding the scope of the potential druggable genome through deep understanding of underlying biology, the therapeutics discovery pipeline can be energized and new scientific pathways for understanding function and role in disease revealed. IDG seeks to begin by expanding the knowledge base of the Druggable Genome to allow for in silico discovery and prioritization of paths to follow with detailed annotation studies. Parallel efforts to adapt and scale assays for rapid and high throughput annotation will constitute a second arm of IDG. Together the two arms synergize and collaborate through formation of a consortium to bring investigators from different disciplines together and address these difficult but important problems. Ultimately, the goal of the program is to foster basic research by accumulating genomic data to inform our knowledge of the proteome enabling small businesses and the pharmaceutical industry with the ability to design novel therapeutics (IDG). NCI’s OCCPR serves as a NCI Representative/Project Scientist to this NIH Common Fund program. For more information about the Common Fund, visit http://commonfund.nih.gov.