November 9, 2001

NCRR Announces Gene Vector Lab Awards

The National Center on Research Resources (NCRR) Nov. 6 announced the awarding of cooperative agreements with five institutions to establish National Gene Vector Laboratories (NGVL). The awardee institutions will perform a variety of functions.

• Indiana University will serve as the NGVL Coordinating Center to receive investigators' requests for NGVL services and to provide oversight of compliance with NGVL policies, procedures, and administrative matters. The Indiana NGVL will produce lentiviral and retroviral vectors; maintain a generally accessible master file that contains toxicology data on adeno-associated virus (AAV), a commonly used vector; and establish a repository to distribute an AAV reference standard to investigators;
• The City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute (Duarte, California) will produce non-viral vectors;
• Baylor College of Medicine will produce adenoviral vectors; and
• The Southern Research Institute (Birmingham, Alabama) and the University of Florida will perform toxicology studies on the gene vector preparations.

Information: Kathy Kaplan, NCRR Information Officer, 301-435-0888.