Objective and Relevancy: This action supports collaborative research between Dr. Richard J. Roberts of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Long Island, NY and Dr. Sheikh Riazuddin of the Center of Advanced Molecular Biology at the University of Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. The research will involve production of a wide variety of new restriction enzymes with new specificities for use in genetic engineering. Attention will be paid to methods that allow the discovery of enzymes with recognition sequences longer than 6 nucleotides, since such enzymes which cleave DNA infrequently are of great value for mapping large genomes such as human genomes. The U.S.-Pakistan program supports cooperative research involving scientists from the two countries where capabilities complement each other. This project meets that criterion well. Merit: The two scientists are among the most highly regarded in the field of molecular biology in their respective countries. They have collaborated on scientific research in the past with results published as joint articles in international journals. This project is likely to produce publishable results which would benefit others working in the field. Funding: The project is being funded under two grants; University of Punjab, grant INT-8713479: FY87: SFC$22,925 (Pakistani Currency) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, grant INT-8713519: FY87: U.S.$20,925 plus SFC$5,000 FY88: U.S.$22,181
