"Our expansion will provide us with sufficient computational firepower to handle the coming flood of whole human genome sequencing, which will become cost-effective in the next one to two years," Blangero said. "This investment will keep the Foundation at the forefront of the expanding genetic frontier."

Funding for the expansion comes through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, part of the economic stimulus package approved by Congress in 2009. It provided money to the National Center for Research Resources, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to make awards for scientific equipment investments at research institutions across the country.

The computers support $110 million worth of NIH grants, giving the Foundation a compelling case in favor of the additional federal investment, said Blangero. Foundation scientists are directing or supporting a number of studies that employ extended family pedigrees to track down the genetic basis of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, psychiatric illnesses and brain structure.

SOURCE Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research

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