INPUTS ABOUT MITIN Dr. Lars Juhl Jensen,University of Copenhagen (Denmark)

In my view the project coming along nicely with a good amount of contact and collaboration among the partners. My only general concern is that the consortium focuses too much on "playing it safe" by selecting candidate genes that are likely to be correct but also somewhat unsurprising.
 
This is understandable, as experimental validation of predictions is expensive and time consuming. However, being overly risk averse lowers the chance of making major discoveries, which I believe the consortium has the potential to do. Due my own background, I am only able to give detailed advice regarding the bioinformatics analysis part of the project.
 
In line with my general comment, I belive that the candidate selection is so far highly conservative and thereby inherently biased towards well studied genes. To increase the novelty of the candidate genes, I believe that the criteria regarding the amount of experimental evidence for physical interactions will have to be lowered.
 
To still retain high quality of the predictions, it would be recommendable to make use of the unbiased genome-wide data available, in particular microarray data produced by other partners. Considering the use of Drosophila as a model organisms, it would also be worthwhile considering if the candidate selection can be made in a manner that allows follow up through genetics.