The US National Science Foundation is establishing a research center led by Northwestern University to investigate how the three-dimensional organization of DNA influences cell identity and function.
The Center for Genome Intelligence Engineering, or GENIE, is one of three new NSF Science and Technology Centers supported through a combined $90 million investment over five years. Each center will receive approximately $6 million annually during the initial five-year period and can compete for up to five additional years of support, according to the NSF announcement.
GENIE will bring together researchers from multiple institutions to develop technologies to study and engineer the physical organization of DNA within cells. The center’s work will examine how that organization helps determine cell identity and function, as well as how changes in genome structure contribute to conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Moving beyond the linear genome
DNA carries genetic information as a sequence, but it must also fold and organize within the cell nucleus. That three-dimensional arrangement can influence which genes become accessible and active. GENIE researchers aim to generate knowledge and tools that could ultimately help cells and tissues withstand damage, restore lost functions, or return to healthier states.
The NSF announcement does not specify the individual instruments, assays, or experimental platforms that participating laboratories will use. Research into three-dimensional genome organization can involve complementary approaches, however, including sequencing, microscopy, computational modeling, and genome manipulation. Previous work has used high-resolution three-dimensional imaging to examine chromosome structure, while researchers have also developed generative AI methods for predicting chromatin structures.
By supporting a center rather than an individual project, NSF is creating a structure for sustained collaboration across disciplines and organizations. GENIE will also contribute to the Science and Technology Centers program’s broader workforce mission by providing students and early-career researchers with experience in emerging technologies.
Coordinating complex laboratory workflows
For the laboratories involved, a multi-institutional center creates operational demands as well as scientific opportunities. Teams will need to coordinate protocols, metadata, data formats, quality controls, and access practices to compare or combine results generated at different sites. Sample provenance, instrument settings, software versions, and analysis parameters can all affect the interpretation and reproducibility of genome-organization research.
The expected combination of experimental and computational work also makes data infrastructure a central consideration. Sequencing and imaging can generate large, complex datasets that require storage, computing capacity, retention rules, and specialized analytical staff. Guidance on managing storage, compute, retention, and staffing for next-generation sequencing data illustrates the planning required before data volume becomes a constraint on laboratory capacity.
Lab managers supporting this work may also need to plan for shared equipment access, preventive maintenance, cross-training, and scheduling across workflows with different turnaround times. Clearly assigned responsibility for method changes and data review will be important when multiple disciplines contribute to a single result.
This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.
