CENTER FOR COMPUTATION & TECHNOLOGY

LSU has played a key role in unlocking primate DNA that could help develop vaccines to combat AIDS and other diseases. The results of the massive multi-institutional DNA project studying the rhesus macaque monkey were published Friday as the cover story of Science magazine — available online at http://www.sciencemag.org. The study, which follows up on the six-year-old Human Genome Project, deciphered the DNA of common macaque monkeys and found that they share about 93 percent of their DNA with humans. Deoxyribonucleic acid, called DNA, contains the genetic instructions for the development and functioning of living organisms. The macaque response to its HIV counterpart SIV — simian immunodeficiency virus —could lead to AIDS prevention and vaccines, in addition to helping fight other viruses, said Mark Batzer, LSU professor of biological sciences. “But it also helps us better understand what makes us human,” said Batzer, who led LSU's part in the project. Scientists already have access to chimpanzee DNA. But its comparisons to human DNA do not offer as much insight because chimp DNA diverged from humans relatively recently. The differences are almost too small to glean much information, Batzer said. But macaques split from human ancestors in the evolutionary process about 25 millions years ago. So that is 25 million years of DNA data throughout the natural selection process to study, Batzer said. That gap can also provide more knowledge about the evolutionary process in correspondence with DNA changes, he said. The entire project cost nearly $30 million, Batzer said, and involved about 170 researchers from 35 institutions led by the Baylor University College of Medicine. “The thing we're all fascinated with is what makes us different from these animals who are so close to us,” Dr. Richard Gibbs of Baylor told the Associated Press. LSU conducted much of the DNA sequences analysis and helped lead mobile DNA and population genetics workgroups, Batzer said. The mobile DNA, which Batzer specializes in studying, are replicating DNA that make up about 50 percent of the primate genome and “jump” during evolution. The jump occasionally causes genetic disorders such as hemophilia and breast cancer. The work can help better understand how and why these elements “jump,” Batzer said. Much of the actual computer analysis and “computational horsepower” was provided by Brygg Ullmer, LSU assistant professor of computer science. Ullmer said he not only used the SuperMike LSU supercomputer, but also LSU's computational “garden of architectures” since the project demanded massive amounts of computer power.