An international consortium of six nations yesterday announced the completion of the human genome sequence.
What amounts to a map of humankind, or put another way, the entire print-out of DNA, will provide the greatest scientific breakthroughs for medical science and is essential for the development of the bio-industry for human health.
Thanks to hundreds of researchers around the globe, the project was finished more than two years ahead of time at a cost of US$2.7 billion, significantly less than the original budget of US$3 billion.
The Human Genome Project (HGP), sponsored by the six governments, was started in 1990 and was expected to be completed by 2005.
But researchers announced in February that about 95 per cent of the human genome had been mapped out.
The complete sequence of the human genome comprises some 30,000 to 40,000 genes. The decoding, "similar to having all of the pages of the manual needed to make a human body," will give scientists new insights into the causes of illness and the ability to develop better medicines and treatments for them.
Leaders from the six nations behind the HGP -- China, Japan, France, Germany, Britain and the United States -- hailed the work a great success.
"This genetic sequence provides us with the fundamental platform for understanding ourselves, from which revolutionary progress will be made in biomedical sciences and in the health and welfare of humankind," the leaders said in a joint statement released on Monday.
"Their outstanding work will be noted in the history of science and technology, and as well in the history of humankind, as a landmark achievement," it said.
On Monday Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao signed the joint statement together with US President George W. Bush, French President Jacques Chirac, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
Chinese scientists said that they had joined about 1,000 scientists from 16 institutions worldwide working on the final stage of the map.
China has deciphered the chromosomes that make human forearms, which account for 1 per cent of the total HGP, said Yang Huanming, the chief scientist with the Chinese team working on the HGP.
Yang said the finished sequence covers about 99 per cent of the human genome's gene-containing regions, and it has been sequenced to an accuracy of 99.99 per cent.
By successfully sequencing the human genome, scientists have now "opened the door into a vast and complex new biological landscape" and created a revolution which is "transforming biological science far beyond what we could imagine," said Yang.
"This will help scientists conduct in-depth studies into human health and diseases through genetic research," he said.
(China Daily April 16, 2003)
