Robert Boston
Actress Marlo Thomas (left) talks with Richard Wilson, PhD, director of The Genome Center, Oct. 28 in The Genome Center at the School of Medicine. The Genome Center is partnering with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis on the Pediatric Cancer Genome Project, the largest research project to date aimed at understanding the genetic origins of pediatric cancers. Genome Center scientists and St. Jude investigators are sequencing the genomes of both normal and tumor cells from 600 young cancer patients, comparing differences in the DNA to identify genetic mistakes that lead to cancer. The project is estimated to cost $65 million over three years, with the bulk of the funding provided by St. Jude. Thomas, the daughter of St. Jude founder Danny Thomas, is national outreach director for the hospital.