The New York Genome Center (NYGC) has launched of the MacMillan Center for the Study of the Non-Coding Cancer Genome (MCSNCG), a major new initiative in cancer research to study the role and function of the non-coding genome and epigenome in the evolution, progression, and treatment of multiple cancer types, including breast, ovary, pancreas, gastrointestinal, lung, and hematologic cancers.

Commenting on the opening, Tom Maniatis, PhD, NYGC’s Evnin Family Scientific Director and CEO, said: “This Center, with its leading-edge multidisciplinary approach – bringing together experts in genomics, engineering, mathematics, computational biology, and cancer biology – will dramatically advance the understanding of the role of the non-coding genome in cancer.”

The non-coding “dark” genome constitutes 98% of the human genome and it plays an essential regulatory role across all molecular layers of biological complexity (i.e. genome, epigenome, transcriptome, proteome), influencing DNA organization and structure, genome accessibility to regulatory proteins and RNA, and intracellular organelle organization. The molecular mechanisms by which cell functions are carried out hold extraordinary promise for understanding how cellular identity is encoded in individual cell types and cell states; how cells are altered by intercellular interactions within the microenvironment, including immune cells; and how they are disrupted in various disease states, most specifically in cancer.

While extraordinary progress has been made through individual, gene-focused research projects, the biomedical research community has historically lacked the technology and collaborative framework to systematically study the causality of the non-coding genome in cancer. Therefore, foundational questions regarding the role of the non-coding genome in the development and progression of many cancer types remain unanswered. Established by a generous gift from the MacMillan Family Foundation, the MCSNCG will seek to answer these questions through an interinstitutional, multi-disciplinary research programme that brings together engineers, data scientists, mathematicians, technologists and biological experts. This range of expertise from the NYGC’s collaborative network will allow the MCSNCG to engage in coordinated efforts to understand how behaviour is encoded in cells and unravel the intricacy of intercellular interactions involved in the development of cancerous cells, metastasis, and drug resistance.

Education and Outreach to promote diversity and representation in genomics and cancer research, engage the broader scientific community, and educate the public on the value and benefit of this important work is another critical component of the Center. To that end, the MCSNCG will offer internship and post-baccalaureate training opportunities, workshops and seminars for both scientific and public audiences, and will broadly disseminate the Center’s scientific findings through the publication of protocols, analytic methods, genomic data, and discoveries.

To maximize the impact of this research, the MCSNCG will also leverage existing regional cancer and genomic technology research initiatives anchored by the NYGC collaborative network such as the Polyethnic-1000 (P-1000) – www.nygenome.org/research-areas/cancer/polyethnic-1000/ – initiative. The researchers of the P-1000 initiative study cancer genomes of under-represented minority populations with the goal of understanding the role of genetic diversity in cancer, improving the application and outcome of precision medicine for these populations, and addressing the stark ethnic disparities in cancer research and diagnosis.