About the DOE Genomic Science Program

Advancing Scientific Discovery through Genomics and Systems Biology

Understanding the instructions for life encoded in the DNA sequence, or genome, of natural systems offers a wealth of potential for advancing biological solutions to many of today’s energy and environmental challenges. To harness this potential, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Genomic Science program supports fundamental research to understand the systems biology of plants and microbes as they respond to and modify their local environments. Systems biology is the holistic, multidisciplinary study of complex interactions that specify the function of an entire biological system—whether single cells or multicellular organisms—synthesizing decades of reductionist studies that identified and characterized individual components.

Program Goal

Achieve a predictive, systems-level understanding of plants, microbes, and biological communities to enable biobased solutions to DOE mission challenges in energy and environment.

Objectives

The program's ultimate objectives are to:

Determine the molecular mechanisms, regulatory elements, and integrated networks needed to understand genome-scale functional properties of biological systems.
Develop omics experimental capabilities and enabling technologies needed to achieve dynamic, systems-level understanding of organism and community function.
Flexibly scale understanding of biological processes from defined subsystems to individual organisms, consortial assemblies of multiple organisms, or complex communities operating at ecosystem scales.
Understand the principles governing living systems and develop tools for more sophisticated biosystems design, enabling the targeted modification of functional properties at the genome scale.
Develop the knowledgebase, computational infrastructure, and modeling capabilities to advance predictive understanding and manipulation of biological systems.

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Multiscale Explorations Achieving a predictive understanding of fundamental life processes requires investigations that span multiple levels, from the information encoded in individual plant and microbial genomes to the functioning of cells as communities in an ecosystem. Important to this challenge is understanding the complex interactions between each level of biological organization and the environment.

From Genome Sequences to Understanding

As a leader in systems biology research, the Genomic Science program uses genome sequences as the blueprint for understanding the common principles that govern living systems. Knowledge of these common principles revealed by studying organisms relevant to one DOE mission facilitates breakthroughs in the basic biology important to other DOE and national needs.

By examining the translation of genetic codes into functional proteins, biomolecular complexes, metabolic pathways, and regulatory networks, Genomic Science research focuses on the grand challenge of developing a mechanistic, predictive understanding of plant and microbial system behavior across a range of scales, from genes to small ecosystems. Scientific insights achieved in pursuit of this challenge will enable, for example, the design and re-engineering of plants and microbes for DOE missions in sustainable advanced biofuels and bioproducts, improved carbon storage capabilities, and controlled biological transformation of materials such as nutrients and contaminants in the environment.

The Genomic Science program is part of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research within DOE’s Office of Science.