Background
HUDSEN arose from an EU FP6 funded project "Developmental Gene Expression Map" (DGEMap)
HUDSEN believes that through more effective integration biomedical researchers will be able to
- develop and apply systems approaches to understand and model human (and related mammalian) developmental biological processes at all levels of organisation
- elucidate processes and develop new knowledge on basic biological processes relevant to health and diseases
Research on biological processes in early human development is essential for the understanding of the molecular and cellular determinants of both normal and abnormal development. The expression and function of genes during human development are important for the initiation and progression of human diseases. Up to 3% of live-born babies display some kind of major congenital abnormality and birth defects are the leading cause of infant mortality, accounting for 21% of infant deaths. Furthermore, adult diseases often have their origins during development or involve a reactivation of developmental mechanisms. Identifying and characterising such changes require systems biology approaches, which apply mathematical modelling and engineering systems concepts to biological and medical systems. In turn, these approaches require significant volumes of high quality, high-resolution data.
Biomedical and translational research requires services that generate and deliver these large quantities of human developmental gene expression and functional data, within the highest possible ethical and governance framework, and with the capacity to analyse these data in relation to gene expression and functional data from other mammalian species. Access to these services will enable researchers to exploit the full potential of post-genomic information to underpin applications to human health. HUDSEN provides access to the unique core resources of human embryo tissue banks, existing gene expression services and spatio-temporal databases of mouse and human embryo data.