This new equipment will affect TAU's work in Life Sciences across the board. "This is a new frontier in science, and it will impact all areas of research that we do -- targeting treatments for cancer and rare and common genetic diseases," says Prof. Avraham, who coordinated obtaining the consortium's efforts.

Prof. Gil Ast of the Department of Human Genetics, Sackler School of Medicine, is another of the pioneering researchers at Tel Aviv University who are using the deep sequencing tool. Among his projects is the exploration of curative possibilities for rare genetic diseases, and unlocking the biology of DNA assembly.

It will be also used by young researchers such as Dr. Noam Shomron, who will also run the facility. Using a deep sequencer tool, Dr. Shomron is working in the rapidly developing area of "personalized medicine", investigating why some patients respond well to chemotherapy while others do not. He is building detailed genetic profiles with the potential to shape specialized treatments for patients and exploring the use of microRNA for "smart drugs" that can target individual and damaged cells.

American Friends of Tel Aviv University (www.aftau) supports Israel's leading and most comprehensive center of higher learning. In independent rankings, TAU's innovations and discoveries are cited more often by the global scientific community than all but 20 other universities worldwide.

Source: American Friends of Tel Aviv University