Objective: to enable a researcher to decipher the function of genes and gene products and to study the regulation and function of proteins as part of normal or pathological activity.

Support in this area will be granted for, among other activities: pharmacogenomic approaches; cell therapy, including therapy using adult stem cells and adult "reprogrammed" somatic cells; research into ethically acceptable alternatives to technologies which are controversial within the Community and Member States, e.g. alternatives to experiments on animals and to embryonal stem cell research and artificial insemination methods that could prevent the production of supernumerary embryos; support for innovative research on transgenic plants for the production of drugs, hormones and proteins for therapeutic purposes; innovative researc ...[+++]h in post-genomics and related molecular mechanisms, which has a high potential for application, including stem-cell therapies in neurological and neuromuscular disorders.

Support in this area will be granted for, among other activities: pharmacogenomic approaches; cell therapy, including therapy using adult stem cells and adult ‘reprogrammed’ somatic cells; research into ethically acceptable alternatives to technologies which are controversial within the Community and Member States, e.g. alternatives to experiments on animals and to embryonal stem cell research and artificial insemination methods that could prevent the production of supernumerary embryos; support for innovative research on transgenic plants for the production of drugs, hormones and proteins for therapeutic purposes.

(c)Secondary pharmacological studies shall be taken into account to evaluate potential physiological effects that are not related to the desired therapeutic effect of the somatic cell therapy medicinal product, of the tissue engineered product or of additional substances, as biologically active molecules besides the protein(s) of interest might be secreted or the protein(s) of interest could have unwanted target sites.

The resources and effort will focus on four of the eight research areas covered by the programme: ". cell factories", the aim being to move on from bioscience (biochemistry, genetics, bioinformatics, etc.) to bioprocesses (cell culture and fermentation, etc.); ". genome analysis", the aim of which is to develop methodologies for the sequencing of genomes and identification of the biological functions of genes; ". plant and animal biotechnology", in order to develop molecular engineering techniques, protein engineering, and animal ge ...[+++]nome mapping, etc. ". cell communication in neurosciences", the objective of which is to promote multidisciplinary research in nerve cell physiology and communication in order to encourage the neurosciences.

The biotechnology programme will focus on the following four research areas: - "Cell factories" the aim being to move on from bioscience (biochemistry, genetics, bioinformatics, etc.) to bioprocesses (cell culture and fermentation, etc.); - "Genome analysis" the aim of which is to develop methodologies for the sequencing of genomes and identification of the biological functions of genes; - "Plant and animal biotechnology" in order to develop plant molecular engineering techniques, protein engineering, and animal genome mapping, etc. ...[+++]; - "Cell communication in neurosciences" the objective of which is to promote multidisciplinary research into nerve cell physiology and communication in order to encourage the neurosciences.