About the ATC Electronic Workshop

This electronic workshop is an attempt to coalesce emerging industry/public ideas in this area and explore whether or not there is a role for ATP support to accelerate commercialization of the dramatic discoveries in the area of advanced transgenesis and animal cloning. Twenty-two invited participants (speakers), from industry and academia, have submited a 500 - 1,000 word document to this web site. The authors engage in a two-week, on-line discussion of each other's presentations by writing comments to the web site. During the two-week authors-only discussion, the site will be available in its entirety for public view. After the authors' discussion, public comments will be invited to an e-mail or web site designated for this purpose. The technical chair of the workshop (Dr. Mrunal Chapekar, ATP Program Manager) will summarize and categorize the comments at least weekly. At the end of the three-week period, a summary of public comments will be added to the web site (with a hot link to the entire body of responses), and a summary document will be prepared. After internal ATP review and comments from the invited participants, this document will be posted as a guide to crafting competitive proposals for ATP awards.

The overall goal of the workshop is to identify significant technical hurdles that, if overcome, will remove barriers and create larger opportunities for businesses and consumers by accelerating the development of technologies to manipulate the genomes of livestock for their improvement, or to employ livestock animals as bioreactors for pharmaceuticals, or organ donors for human transplantation. Potential technology ideas that could help move this "embryonic" industry forward may include, but are not limited to:

• examining the cell cycle coordination between nucleus and cytoplasm,
• delineating factors and cell-cell interactions controlling proliferation and differentiation of stem cells,
• generating "generic" stem cells from different species,
• designing efficient genetic shuttle vectors for genetic exchange in embryonic stem cells,
• improving gene replacement, point mutation, and regulatable expression techniques.
• developing assay systems for pathogen (particularly retroviral) screening of xenogeneic organs.

It is expected that each of these suggestions will be examined and modified by the workshop participants to produce an industry-led state-of-the-art summary. PLEASE NOTE THAT ANY PROPOSALS INVOLVING THE USE OF HUMAN EGGS, EMBRYOS, OR EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS OR ANY HUMAN CELLS AS NUCLEAR DONORS WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.

About the Advanced Technology Program

The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) is a unique partnership between government and private industry designed to accelerate the development of high-risk technologies that promise significant commercial payoffs and widespread benefits for the economy. Managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the ATP encourages change in how industry approaches R&D, providing a mechanism for industry to extend its technological reach and push out the envelope of what can be attempted.

ATP proposals are selected based on five criteria:

• Scientific and Technical Merit. We are looking for revolutionary projects with the potential to bring fundamental change to this industry. The technology, while feasible, should be "cutting edge" and have a high degree of technical risk. Integrated efforts encompassing multiple and disparate technical challenges and resulting in enabling and platform technologies will be highly competitive.
• Potential for Broad-based Economic Benefits. ATP fosters significant economic benefits for the country via high risk R&D whose short term outcomes flow to U.S. companies and U.S. workers, and whose overall benefits include spillovers extending well beyond those accruing to the awardee.
• Adequacy of Plans for Eventual Commercialization. Proposers should supply evidence of credible plans to assure prompt and widespread further development toward commercial application and use of the technology if the R&D is successful, and to insure adequate protection of the intellectual property by the participants
• Level of Commitment and Organizational Structure. The project must have priority is relation to other company activities. The level of commitment of the proposer should be demonstrated by contribution of personnel, equipment, facilities, and cost-sharing. ATP encourages rich teaming arrangements featuring joint ventures among companies and/or involvement of academia.
• Experience and Qualifications. Can the company get the job done? Are the facilities, technical and administrative resources of the project team (the proposer, and subcontractors or JV partners, and ATP) sufficient to accomplish the proposed objectives?

For more information on the ATP, future competitions, and guidelines for submitting program ideas, please visit our site at http://www.atp.nist.gov/

Workshop Moderator
Chemistry and Life Sciences, ATP