EMILY REID/Arizona Daily Wildcat Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology director Tom Baldwin talks to Gov. Jane Hull yesterday about genome research at the UA.

Gov. Jane Dee Hull visited campus yesterday to tour the respiratory science labs and other labs conducting research on human genes.

The tour began at the Life Sciences South building, where staff members explained the human genome project and how genetic factors affect populations.

The staff, led by research scientist and associate anthropology professor Michael Hammer, has been concentrating on how some of the 30,000 human genes work.

Hammer spoke about identifying gene traits ranging from people's different reactions to similar drugs to how gene variation can be used to link people with similar gene traits around the world.

"When I talk about genomics I am talking about the structure (and) function of all the genes we have in our body," Hammer said. "When something goes wrong with a cell, it is usually related to how it is turned on or how it is turned off."

Hull's tour comes on the heels of this summer's announcement that Arizona will be home to the International Genomics Consortium, a research organization offered $92 million in public and private pledges in June to make a home in Arizona. The IGC will involve researchers from Arizona's public universities.

"The working together of all three universities has been unbelievable," Hull said. "Eventually, we will have the ability to cure so many things before they happen."

Researchers in the Arizona Respiratory Center told Hull about how genomics can be used to help identify causes and cures of respiratory problems like asthma.

All of these projects might not be in their respective buildings for long, however, as many research labs currently spread around campus will move to the new $60 million Institute for Biomedical Science and Biotechnology building scheduled to be finished by the end of 2005, said Mick Jensen, director of communications for IBSB.

Construction on the building, which will be located north of East Speedway Boulevard at North Cherry Avenue, is set to begin in the summer of 2003, said director of the institute, Tom Baldwin.

As the research product development branch of the IGC, called the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), and the IBSB work together to increase the number of genomics researchers on campus, Baldwin hopes the university can narrow its focus in genomics once the new building comes on line.

Exactly what role TGen will play in all of this has not been formalized.

"TGen was originally conceived of as a collaborate effort involving the state's three universities," Jensen said. "(But) the relationship between the three universities and TGen is still being hammered out."

Some members of TGen will become UA faculty members, Jensen added.

Another thing that has yet to be finalized is how much the university will pay for the IBSB building.

So far, the UA still needs to raise an additional $16 million before construction can begin, though Jensen said President Pete Likins would pledge an additional $10 million in revenue bonds if absolutely needed.

The UA has already pledged $30 million in bonds toward the building, but Likins said he would prefer to raise the funds from private donors.

"The fundraisers feel there are some very good prospects out there, but nothing has come through the door yet," Jensen said.

Nonetheless, these monetary concerns are not expected to detract from the UA's effort to improve its genomics research, and Baldwin expects federal funding for the university to increase once TGen and the IBSB building are in place.

Hull agreed.

"All the plans are very, very good for the state of Arizona," she said.