CONCO

"Applied venomics of the cone snail species Conus consors for the accelerated, cheaper, safer and more ethical production of innovative biomedical drugs"

Using advanced post-genomic techniques, CONCO will focus on the discovery and the development of new therapeutically relevant molecules issued from the venomous marine cone snail species Conus consors. Through the deep and exhaustive investigation of the animal biodiversity, of its genome, its venom gland transcriptome and its venom proteome, CONCO aims at exploiting in a sustainable way the great richness offered by these animals to discover the drugs of tomorrow.

The international project CONCO has started on 1st February 2007. It involves 20 partners from 13 countries. They are laboratories from universities, institutes, private companies and non-profit foundations. CONCO has also established partnerships with the "Institut de Recherche pour le Développement" in New-Caledonia, the "Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle" in France and the governments of New-Caledonia and French Polynesia.

CONCO will be fully integrated to the ambitious "Venomics" genome project initiated by the International Society on Toxinology (IST) dedicated to the understanding of the function and evolution of venomous systems in various phyla.

The CONCO project had been proposed within the 6th Framework Programme and will receive funds of € 10.7 millions from the European Union over a five-year period.

Coordinator:
Dr Reto Stöcklin
Atheris Laboratories
Geneva (CH)