AROUND
THE WORLD
The
major breakthroughs in human genetics are not specific
to a country, but are contributed by various countries.
However, these breakthroughs come from - in most cases
- the developed countries.
In
United Kingdom:
The
Sanger Centre is the centre for researches regarding
the genetics. It particularly plays a prominent role
in the sequencing of the human genome. This centre
is the product of the Wellcome Trust and The British
Medical Research Council. It was able to sequence
the entire genome of C-Elegans (collaborating with
the Genome Sequencing Centre in Washington). This
accomplishment was regarded as one of the major breakthrough
in genome sequencing. Sanger Centre has been able
to sequence the DNA of a number of microorganisms.
Most recently, the Sanger Centre has managed to sequence
the 10th bacterial genome. Sanger Centre currently
employs more than 600 staffs. It also offers more
than 3 billion base pairs of DNA in the public domain.
In
Japan:
Japan
has Advanced Life Science Information System (ALIS)
project in Japan Science and Technology Corporation
(JST). This project has succeeded in sequencing a
number of genomes, particularly the human genomes.
In
Israel:
In
Israel, an organisation founded by the Israel Academy
of Science and Humanities was founded in 1994. It
was the National Laboratory for theGenetics of Israeli
Populations. This laboratory is Israel's national
repository for human cell lines. It represents the
unique and large ethnic variation of the Israeli populations.
In
the USA:
In
United States there are many research centres pertaining
to human genetics. One of the most well-known is The
Human Genome Project. It is the project to sequence
all human genetics. Approximately, there are 3 billion
base pairs to be sequenced. This project is indeed
an ambitious project and has caused many pros and
cons among the public. The completion of this project
is forecasted by the end of year 2003. This forecasted
completion of the project is two years ahead of the
previously projected end of completion date.
Another leading corporation in the race to sequence
the human genome is Celera Genomics Corporation, headed
by the famous Dr. Craig J Venter. The mission of Celera
Genomics is to become the definitive source of genomic
and related medical and agricultural information.
Celera Genomics was able to sequence the human, Drosophila
and mouse genomes. The Drosophila genome sequence
was published in March 2000 while the completion of
sequencing of one human was announced in April 2000.
The first assembly of the human genome was announced
by Celera Genomics in June 2000. The completion of
the mouse genome sequence is expected by early 2001.
The database of these genomes will be made available
to pharmaceutical, agricultural, biotechnology and
life science research organizations to facilitate
their efforts to identify novel genes such as drug
targets, speed drug discovery and developments, etc.
In
China:
Chinese
scientists played an important role in mapping the
rough draft of the human genome. They hope to be able
to use the new data in the biochemical industry. More
than two hundred Chinese scientists spent nine months
sequencing the genome region of the third chromosome.
And, that work's been a crucial part of the total
project to complete the working draft of the human
genome
Doctor
Zhang Meng, from the Human Genome Center of the China
Academy of Sciences in China says this places China
in the top of the bio-technology field. He added that
the scientists' work would have a profound impact
on biology and industries with genetics at the core.
He also revealed that more work will be done, for
example, studying the genetic code of Chinese people,
and how the genetic structure of an Asian person differs
from that of a white or black person.
In
Singapore:
In
Singapore, The Omniarray Research Group was set up
to understand how genetic differences at both the
cellular and organismal level can influence the development
of various disease and other complex phenotypes. The
study of this topic is hoped to contribute to the
efforts to battle genetic-related diseases. The subjects
of researches by this group are mainly of SouthEast
Asian Countries and only some are of caucasian origins.
While
in other countries there are not many research centres,
each country in the world - mostly- has its own human
genetics society to inform them about the latest developments
in human genetics. All around the world, mostly the
developed countries have made significant contributions
to the human genetics researches. This has put many
developing countries in a disadvantage because they
do not have the required technology or manpower to
engage in genetics research. The genetics information
is also limited in those countries. Therefore, in
many researches regarding the human genetics, developing
countries must be well represented.
