Proposal for Sequencing Further Echinoderm Genomes for the Purposes of Global Gene Regulatory Network Analysis

Gene regulatory networks (GRNs), when solved, provide immediate and predictive access to the specific functional termini at which genomic sequence determines the logic of the organismal regulatory system. GRN topology explains the fundamental processes of development (1), including dynamics (2), major evolutionary transitions (3), many aspects of physiological function, and normal and diseased regulatory states; and GRN structure also provides the only kind of blueprint on which to base rational strategies for re-engineering of developmental process (4,5). Thus in the next period of bioscience the elucidation of GRNs must become a major, targeted objective.