Interviews

Barney D. Gill
University of Washington School of Medicine
Department of Molecular Biotechnology
E-mail: bdgill@u.washington.edu

Exactly what is the nature of your research?

I work along with a team of other researchers to find variations in human genomic DNA. Collaborators of ours believe that these variations may be important markers or indicators of how susceptible one might be to having a genetic predisposition to having heart disease (high blood pressure, hypertension, etc.) SNP's, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, are the "hot" area right now, and many researchers are using these as markers. In the past, other types of markers were used. Single nucleotide substitutions and unique insertions/deletions are the most common form of DNA sequence variation and disease causing mutation in the human genome.
I am currently working on a project involving single-well genotyping of diallelic sequence variation using a two color ELISA oligonucleotide ligation assay. With this assay, were are able to use 96 well plates to type 96 individuals at once, at one variation site. Through sequencing, we were able to determine where these variations occurred in the particular cardiovascular disease gene that we were looking at. Then we construct an assay to look at that particular variation. It is specific enough to where if the polymorphism is a c/t for example, we can tell by this plate what allele this individual has, or if they have both! Using this colorimetric assay, if the well turns red say, then they have one allele; if it turns blue, they also have the other allele (heterozygote). If only one color comes up, then they are homozygote at that locus for the particular allele. This is a very convenient assay for high-throughput genotyping. We do anywhere from 6-20 of these plates each day, so you can tell that this generates a significant amount of data.
I am currently looking into efficient automation of particular parts of this assay, and ways to increase throughput and decrease user handling error.

What do you find most exciting about your research?

I think that finding new solutions to problems is the most exciting part of this research; getting something to work that hasn't in the past for whatever reason, figuring out what the "problem" was. It is also nice to see ideas about automation be implemented, and then train fellow colleagues on its use.

What are you trying to accomplish?

By having all of this data and information, our collaborators (who are generally population geneticists) can hope to find links between the likelihood of having cardiovascular disease and the genetic variations.

Why is your research so important?

This research has HUGE implications for the future cardiovascular health of humans. Obviously there major issues to be worked out, and the debate may never end, about genetic manipulation and therapy. Knowledge is a good thing, and if you knew that you were predispositioned to getting heart disease, you could then adjust your lifestyle and diet accordingly to do everything possible to ensure your longevity.

What have you discovered so far? Have you published your findings?

We have found lots of new single nucleotide polymorphisms that were not known to exist before, and possibly laid the groundwork to finding links to heart disease through genetic variation. We also have a great team of programmers here that have written new software (that tons of people now use!) for analyzing DNA sequence data and ola data.
We have many publications out, and they can be found at our website http://droog.mbt.washington.edu.

What makes the University of Washington such a great genetics research center?

Well, I would have to say that there must have been a joint "moving" of great minds to work together, and that place happened to be Seattle. The ties that the UW has to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and many biotechnology companies (most were started by UW scientists, including Zymogenetics, Immunex, and ICOS I believe) have made it world renowned. The Seattle area is also becoming known as the hotbed for not only genetics, but bioinformatics and programming as well. I have even seen reports listing it "better" than the Silicon Valley. Our department was started by a large funding from Bill Gates (of Microsoft fame). He founded our department, and his first step was to lure Lee Hood from the California Institute of Technology to the UW. Lee Hood was already world famous for developing the technology for the fluorescent automated sequencer and other great innovations applicable to the genetics field. He also had done some great genetics research. Many great scientist followed him here, including Debbie Nickerson, Ph.D., who I work for, and Barbara Trask, Ph.D., who invented Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) I believe.

Have you done other types of research?

Prior to this, I worked in the Botany department here at the University of Washington. I worked on a brown, unicellular algae called Heterosigma carterae. It is common in the Pacific Northwest, and certain unknown environmental cues cause it to "bloom." I am sure you are familiar with a "red tide?" It is caused when a red algae or dinoflagellates bloom near the coastline. They typically consume considerable amounts of oxygen from the water, choking off fish and other marine animals. Several blooms in Puget Sound and up in British Columbia in the past few years have cost fish farmers millions of dollars of losses. I worked particularly on an enzyme that may trigger the bloom, Phosphoribulokinase. I cultured the algae in many different types of conditions, and looked at the enzymes activity with a spectrophotometric assay.


What types of equipment do you use?

Automated Sequencers, pipetting robots, synthesizers, HPLC for purifying primers.

Why have you chosen this field?

Discovery is very interesting, and there are many untouched areas in this field presently. Another lure was the opportunity to be in a "head of the field" (in terms of technology) type of environment.

How did you get involved in researching? What steps did you take to reach your position?

I got involved in researching because I had questions in my academic training that my professors could not answer. I attended Kelso High School, and then received a B.Sc. in Zoology from the University of Washington, with a heavy emphasis on research.

What are your career goals?

Good question. To be successful and happy.

What other types of genetic research is being conducted at the university?

Anything you can think of; name it. Forensics, genome studies, population genetics, mapping, genetic analysis software design, and on and on.

What advice do you give to high school students interested in entering the field of genetic science?

Read everyday, anything. Do well in high school. Take advanced courses. Travel. Build yourself as a person, not just a scientist. Take as much math and science as you possibly can in high school. Study hard for the SAT. Have hobbies. Find mentors.

Barney Gill
E-mail: bdgill@u.washington.edu