ELIfe goal

Technological Developments

A revolution in lipid analysis is currently taking place, which will dramatically enhance our scant understanding of how lipids interact with genes and proteins to regulate cellular functions. Over the past ten years, technological developments have caused a revolution in the fields of genomics and proteomics. Suitable technologies are now emerging for the field of metabolomics, and lipidomics in particular.

Challenge

It is a challenge to bring the essential actors together at the European level to devise strategies on how to develop the field of lipidomics in connection with genomics and proteomics. In lipidomics, the major new technology is high throughput mass spectrometry, which is now on the verge of being applied to diseases related to the lipidome.

To mobilize and network the European basic and medical researchers and industry, a series of dedicated workshops and a concluding conference will be organized on technology development, scientific challenges and medical applications of lipidomics.

Sense of Urgency

The relevance is highlighted by the fact that in the United States a $35-million 'Lipidomics' grant was recently announced. Europe has so far played a leading role in this research area but is now in danger of losing this position.

Objectives

• We wish the create a European technology platform bringing together technological know-how and industry.
• The second aim is to shape the way in which lipidomics research is organised in Europe.
• Finally, we aim at defining the most suitable ways in which the new technologies can be applied in the clinical setting to assess, cure and prevent membrane lipid disorders.

To realize these aims we intend to constitute consortia of research groups that will apply for funding in the coming Framework Program of the EC to be launched in 2007.