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'Book of life' unveils genetic secrets
By Stephen Brook, Science writer
12feb01
HUMANS have up to 40,000 genes, three times more than a fruit fly and twice that of a worm, human genome data reveals.
And the male Y chromosome is smaller, less complex and locked in an evolutionary battle with the female double X chromosome.
The worldwide publication and analysis of the DNA "book of life" yesterday reveals more secrets about the genetic information that propels human biology than ever before.
The publication of the sequence, which follows the mapping of the human genome last June, will usher in a new era of medical science and help scientists identify causes of diseases and find treatments.
The genome data shows:
THERE are between 26,000 and 39,000 genes in our DNA sequence that instruct the body how to build itself – rather than the 140,000 genes some scientists estimated.
ABOUT a quarter of the DNA sequence is a desert containing no genes and a third of the sequence is junk with repeated gene sequences.
ALMOST half the genome originated from invading genetic material, including bacteria, during our evolution.
EVERY person on earth shares 99.99 per cent of the same genome, including people of different races, who can have more genetic similarities than people from the same race.
MEN are twice as likely to pass on genetic mutations than are women.
THE Y chromosome, which creates males, is under siege from the X chromosome (females have two X chromosomes, men have an X and Y chromosome) and contains long sequences of identical material.
Grant Sutherland, a former president of the Human Genome Project Organisation and director of cytogenetics and molecular genetics at the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital, said the publication was an early milestone in an effort to understand the genome that would take the rest of the century.
"When the human genome project was originally proposed in the mid-1980s it really seemed like travelling to another galaxy," Professor Sutherland said.
The genome research meant 10 years' work by several research groups to locate and identify genes could now be achieved by three researchers in three weeks.
The world's most prestigious scientific journals, the British-based Nature and the US-based Science, jointly published the genome details on the internet with articles by the research leaders, Craig Venter, director of the private Celera Genomics, and Francis Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Human Genome Project scientists warned that the great potential of the genome sequence had serious legal, ethical and social implications. "Fulfilling the true promise of the human genome project will be the work of tens of thousands of scientists around the world, both in academe and industry," they said. "Understanding and wisdom will be required to ensure these benefits are implemented broadly and equitably."
www.sciencemag.org
www.nature.com
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