Proteomics white paper describes The Grand Challenge

A proteomics white paper has set out The Grand Challenge for the future in order to make bold advances in the area. The paper is based on a proteomics workshop held in 2011 under the aegis of the U.S. National Science and Technology Council, which was attended by scientists from federal agencies and research groups.

The Grand Challenge aims "to make bold advances in utilizing and advancing the technology platforms and knowledge bases for quantifying and characterizing proteins in functional protein networks, thereby facilitating societally important applications in health, agriculture, nutrition, energy, environment, and national security." The white paper discusses many aspects of the area, including: "Linking the genome to normal and disease phenotypes" and "Emerging proteomics technologies that jump-start the grand challenge" (like mass spectrometry, protein capture agents, in vivo molecular imaging, single cell and single molecule analysis, in silico protein folding, and computational aspects).

A series of measurable goals and five-year deliverables was set. These included increasing the sensitivity of mass spectrometry by 100-1000-fold for tissue and plasma analysis; creating reference mass spectra for all proteins and peptides, including those with post-translational modifications; Deploying microfluidics and nanotechnology; Enhancing throughput of proteomics assays; Moving massive proteomics data resources to the cloud; Further software development.

The fields expected to benefit from this initiative include human health, agriculture and food, energy and environment, and national security and counterterrorism and the importance of inter-agency cooperation was emphasised.