Backgrounder: Brain Gain: UVic Attracts Scientific Star From the U.S.
Christoph Borchers holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in chemistry and a PhD degree in analytical chemistry, all from the University of Konstanz in Germany. That was in the early ‘90s when the word “proteomics” did not yet exist. His PhD, which investigated the use of mass spectrometry to analyse proteins, was greeted with skepticism by the scientific community. Today, the use of mass spectrometry to study proteins is routine.
When Borchers graduated with his PhD in 1996 he was eager to apply his new proteomics expertise to solving biomedical problems. But the field was still nascent and there were no jobs. He got two interviews. One was to work in a chocolate factory making coatings for M&M candies. He opted for a postdoctoral position in the U.S. instead.
Borchers’s own research focuses on biomedical applications and the development of diagnostic tools. “What we’re all working toward is the day when we can take a drop of blood and determine exactly what is wrong with a patient, what diseases he or she is susceptible to, and later on, what therapy would be best,” he says. “It’s called individualized medicine. We’re heading in that direction, but it’s going to take a lot of work.”
Proteomics is instrumental in the discovery of biomarkers—molecules that correlate directly or indirectly to a disease. These are powerful diagnostic tools. For example, proteomics analysis of a biopsy from a tumour can determine the concentration of a biomarker protein associated with a specific type of cancer.
There are an estimated one million proteins in the human proteome. Some are needed for routine cell functions. Others are critical to metabolic processes such as cell division. The role of many others is unknown.
Proteins can occur in different locations within the body at different stages in a person’s life, and can change within a single cell. Some are abundant. Others—the ones most often associated with disease—exist in tiny amounts. This is why studying the human proteome is such a daunting task. “If you look at it in terms of length, it’s as if you’re standing on the moon and trying to see a fly on a leaf here on Earth,” says Borchers. “That’s what we have to do to see everything.”
Genome British Columbia is a research organization that invests in large scale genomics projects and supporting platforms across a broad spectrum of areas including agriculture, fisheries, health, forestry and the environment.
The UVic-Genome BC Proteomics Centre is one of 28 tenants in UVic’s Vancouver Island Technology Park (VITP), which provides commercial space for a range of research, commercial and industrial high-tech companies, many of them in health, bioinformatics or biotechnology-related fields. VITP, employing 1,300 people, represents the greatest concentration of high-tech companies and workers on Vancouver Island.
< Back to ReleaseWhen Borchers graduated with his PhD in 1996 he was eager to apply his new proteomics expertise to solving biomedical problems. But the field was still nascent and there were no jobs. He got two interviews. One was to work in a chocolate factory making coatings for M&M candies. He opted for a postdoctoral position in the U.S. instead.
Borchers’s own research focuses on biomedical applications and the development of diagnostic tools. “What we’re all working toward is the day when we can take a drop of blood and determine exactly what is wrong with a patient, what diseases he or she is susceptible to, and later on, what therapy would be best,” he says. “It’s called individualized medicine. We’re heading in that direction, but it’s going to take a lot of work.”
Proteomics is instrumental in the discovery of biomarkers—molecules that correlate directly or indirectly to a disease. These are powerful diagnostic tools. For example, proteomics analysis of a biopsy from a tumour can determine the concentration of a biomarker protein associated with a specific type of cancer.
There are an estimated one million proteins in the human proteome. Some are needed for routine cell functions. Others are critical to metabolic processes such as cell division. The role of many others is unknown.
Proteins can occur in different locations within the body at different stages in a person’s life, and can change within a single cell. Some are abundant. Others—the ones most often associated with disease—exist in tiny amounts. This is why studying the human proteome is such a daunting task. “If you look at it in terms of length, it’s as if you’re standing on the moon and trying to see a fly on a leaf here on Earth,” says Borchers. “That’s what we have to do to see everything.”
Genome British Columbia is a research organization that invests in large scale genomics projects and supporting platforms across a broad spectrum of areas including agriculture, fisheries, health, forestry and the environment.
The UVic-Genome BC Proteomics Centre is one of 28 tenants in UVic’s Vancouver Island Technology Park (VITP), which provides commercial space for a range of research, commercial and industrial high-tech companies, many of them in health, bioinformatics or biotechnology-related fields. VITP, employing 1,300 people, represents the greatest concentration of high-tech companies and workers on Vancouver Island.