Research facility creates jobs

COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — By the time first-year veterinary students at Texas A&M University graduate, a host of new job opportunities likely will become available.

The university is opening the Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine, scheduled for completion within the next few years.

Texas A&M is expected to add up to 40 research jobs within $415-million facility at Research Park, which will house the largest library of mouse embryonic stem cells in the world.

Veterinarians and other medical professionals on campus will be able to access the library, authorities say.

University officials say they hope Texas A&M will appear more attractive to the National Institutes of Health along with other grant-giving organizations.

The state-funded project to build the genomic medicine facility was expensed through the Texas Enterprise Fund, which creates jobs in the state.

Facility plans include adding cryogenic freezers to house mouse stem cells. Mice will be developed from the stem cells, each missing one gene. Defects or irregularities that the mice experience will be documented by researchers in order to pinpoint a drug that can act on genes, university officials say.

The ultimate goal for the facility is to identify what genes cause certain functions in the body, officials add. If the gene is causing unfavorable effects in the body, a drug can be worked on to combat the problem.

The pharmaceutical industry also will benefit from this research, says Dr. Richard Ewing, Texas A&M vice president for research.

The institute is expected to provide live mice and embryonic stem-cell clones to outside researchers.