Microsoft awards ~USD 50,000 for Synthetic Biology Proposals

Today, Microsoft awarded more than $500,000 (US$) in grants to six outstanding projects in the area of synthetic biology. Microsoft identified the proposals best positioned to tackle the computational challenges in two areas of synthetic biology:

1. Examining the re-engineering of natural biological pathways to produce interoperable, composed, biological parts

2. Building tools and information repositories relating to the use of DNA in the fabrication of nanostructures and nanodevices

A total of 49 proposals were received from eleven countries, truly outstanding for our first RFP in this field. Proposals were received from many of the most prominent researchers and labs in the field. Following an external peer-review process, six outstanding proposals were selected and are listed below; for biographies of the recipients and additional information, please refer to: http://research.microsoft.com/ur/us/fundingopps/RFPs/Synthetic_Biology_Awards_2006.aspx

– Computational Interchange Standards for Synthetic Biology. Herbert Sauro, University of Washington

– Design and Synthesis of Minimal and Persistent Protein Complexes. David Green and Steven Skiena, Stony Brook University

– BioStudio: A Collaborative Editing and Revision Control Environment for Synthetic Genomes. Joel Bader and Jef Boeke, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

– Identification of Standard Gene Regulatory Sequences for Synthetic Biology. Robert Holt, University of British Columbia

– Using programmable stacking bonds to combine DNA origami into larger, more complex, reconfigurable structures. Paul W.K. Rothemund and Erik Winfree, California Institute of Technology

– Noise Suppression and Next-Generation Cloning Vectors. Johan Paulsson, Harvard University

Surprisingly, all the projects are from Americas.