A glial cell (green) grows among network of cortical neurons (in red). Studies using these cultured cells can lead to discoveries on how growth factors can prevent neuronal death. (Photo courtesy Anne L. Prieto)

The Indiana Metabolomics and Cytomics Initiative (METACyt) is changing the way life sciences researchers at Indiana University Bloomington do science. Founded in 2004 with a $53 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc., METACyt supports life sciences research at IUB with special emphasis on microbial systems, cell signaling and differentiation, analytical technology development, molecular neurosciences, and molecular and evolutionary biology. METACyt has helped IU researchers make important discoveries concerning:

• How ticks and mosquitoes spread disease
• How inflammation leads to heart disease
• The bacterial origin of the world's strongest glue
• How the bacteria that cause pneumonia thrive in poor conditions
• How the genes of higher organisms are organized and read
• How humans and chimpanzees differ genetically

Discoveries made by METACyt researchers have already led to substantial advances in our understanding of living organisms and could lead to treatments for cancer, heart disease, and other ailments and to development of new adhesives for surgery and engineering.

Recent News

09/22/08: METACyt is now accepting preproposals for new projects. See Information for IUB researchers for details.

05/05/08: IU plans to build business incubator (Herald-Times; subscription only) The IU Board of Trustees has approved a new 40,000 square foot business incubator that will help fill the city's need for wet lab space.

02/20/08: Predictive Physiology and Medicine adds 6 jobs (Herald-Times; subscription only) Predictive Physiology and Medicine, a company to which METACyt provided startup capital, will add six new positions. Brian Kleber is the new chief operations officer.