Three weeks after the German government announced that 300 projects would share €135 million (USD $166 million) in the National Genome Research Network's (NGFN) second round of funding, the details of the awardees have not yet been made public.
NGFN officials are being vague about the reason for the delay, but it appears they may be hoping to convince the German Ministry of Education and Research to increase genome funding by an additional €20 million to 25 million (USD $25 million to 31 million).
The ministry funded NGFN in 2001 with a 3-year grant of €180 million (USD $221 million). Its aim is to find genes involved in the onset of major diseases.
At a May 11 press conference to announce the second round of funding, the ministry said the first tranche had resulted in more than 80 patent applications, 1500 scientific articles, and more than 90 project ideas.
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