--- title: Medicine: EvoCor Search Engine Helps Gene Research description: With the database, researchers will be able to see links between different genes to help treat conditions from Alzheimer's to cancer canonical: https://time.com/2821279/medicine-genetics-evocor-cancer-alzheimers-aging/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-04T07:26:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:12:10.003Z article:section: Health og:title: Medicine: EvoCor Search Engine Helps Gene Research og:description: With the database, researchers will be able to see links between different genes to help treat conditions from Alzheimer's to cancer og:url: https://time.com/2821279/medicine-genetics-evocor-cancer-alzheimers-aging/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80d4c4961b81dd8b/698696271eebf766523714e9/genes-dna.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: DNA Genes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Medicine: EvoCor Search Engine Helps Gene Research twitter:description: With the database, researchers will be able to see links between different genes to help treat conditions from Alzheimer's to cancer twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80d4c4961b81dd8b/698696271eebf766523714e9/genes-dna.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Search Engine for Genes Will Boost Medical Research by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 4, 2014 7:26 AM UTC  Fluorescent cells and nuclei of plant cells Fluorescent cells and nuclei of plant cellsGetty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 4, 2014 7:26 AM UTC Researchers at Virginia Tech have [developed](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140603161940.htm) a search engine, called EvoCor, which finds genes that are functionally linked. By typing the name of a gene type into the database, the platform generates a list of genes that are compatible and likely to function together. This list of gene candidates can then give scientists a tighter focus in their research — for example, in identifying genes that function too slowly or impair cognitive and motor skills, the variants of which may lead to Alzheimer’s or other diseases. “We know of many genes that, when mutated, lead to disastrous outcomes,” said Gregorio Valdez, an assistant professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute. “But these genes don’t function alone. EvoCor identifies functional partners and those partners could turn out to be better targets for therapeutics.” \[[_Science Daily_](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140603161940.htm)\] Medicine: EvoCor Search Engine Helps Gene Research ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2821279/medicine-genetics-evocor-cancer-alzheimers-aging/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2821279/medicine-genetics-evocor-cancer-alzheimers-aging/"},"headline":"Search Engine for Genes Will Boost Medical Research","datePublished":"2014-06-04T07:26:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:12:10.003Z","description":"With the database, researchers will be able to see links between different genes, helping them find better treatments for everything from Alzheimer's to cancer","url":"https://time.com/2821279/medicine-genetics-evocor-cancer-alzheimers-aging/","keywords":["Research","Cancer","Genes","Alzheimer's","diseases"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80d4c4961b81dd8b/698696271eebf766523714e9/genes-dna.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt80d4c4961b81dd8b/698696271eebf766523714e9/genes-dna.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DNA Genes","caption":"DNA Genes","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/research/","name":"Research"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2821279/medicine-genetics-evocor-cancer-alzheimers-aging/","name":"Search Engine for Genes Will Boost Medical Research"}}]}] ```