Gene map of Chimpanzee published ( 2003-12-12 10:09) (Xinhua)
US scientists have completed the first gene map of the chimpanzee, our
closest relative, and placed the information into a free online database,
the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.
The sequencing was conducted by scientists at Washington
University, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, with funding from the US government.
The map, covering an estimated 88 percent to 90 percent of the
chimpanzee genome's gene-coding regions, has been carefully aligned with
the human genome on the Web site, ncbi.nih.gov/ Genbank.
"We want to let the scientific community know that the sequence is
available and they can have access to it," said Richard K. Wilson,
director of the genome sequencing center at Washington University.
An international team of scientists is comparing the genome with that
of human and is scheduled to publish its findings within several months. They
hope to find clues to what makes the two species so similar yet so
strikingly different.
Sequencing the chimp genome was ranked a high priority by the US
government's National Human Genome Research Institute. The information is
expected to provide new approaches to fighting disease because chimps and
humans succumb to different ailments: Chimps, for instance, don't develop
AIDS or malaria.
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