Chinese scientists and their counterparts in the United States have launched a research project on the gene related to Systematic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Chen Zhu, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) announced on Monday.

Chen made the announcement at the 2002 International Human Genome Meeting being held in Shanghai.

SLE is the most severe human immune disease and predominately affects females, with the female to male disease ratio generally being six to one. In China however the rate of disease in females is 8 to 10 times higher than that of Europeans and Americans.

Because of the difficulty of diagnosis and the lack of effective medication, over 75 percent of patients with the disease die from it.

Mary Claire King, an academician from the National Academy of Sciences in the United States said that Chinese and American scientists will work together to find SLE related genes which will enable them to find out more about the disease.

Chinese and American scientists will share SLE research materials with the hospital affiliated to Shanghai No. 2 Medical University also joining in the research.

(China Daily April 17, 2002)