Scientists have established a map of human gene variants. This advancement aims to uncover the genes that explain health differences among individuals and why people respond differently to medications and environmental factors.
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The HapMap promises to explain how your genome differs from that of the person sitting next to you. |
The map also has the potential to help scientists gain a deeper understanding of biology, human evolution, and disease diagnosis. An international team of scientists published the first part of this map in last week’s issue of Nature.
According to Dr. Panos Deloukas from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a project participant, this is a significant scientific event because the map is directly related to the human genome and serves as a tool to enhance the effectiveness of genetic research.
The Human Genome Project indicated that the genomes of any two individuals are 99.9% identical. Now, scientists have completed a more detailed map (also known as HapMap) that identifies gene variants explaining the remaining 0.1% difference. This international HapMap project, which involves 200 scientists from the UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Nigeria, and China, has mapped human gene variants using DNA samples from 269 individuals across Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The first part of HapMap contains over 1 million variants, while the second part is expected to include around 2 million more. These variants are inherited in blocks of information.
Using HapMap, scientists can compare variant phenotypes in patients with specific diseases to those in healthy individuals to identify genetic causes of these diseases. According to Professor Peter Donnelly from the University of Oxford, in other words, HapMap is a tool for searching for genes related to common diseases. It will also help people understand other important biological processes, such as evolution, recombination, and the factors contributing to human genetic variation.
Additionally, HapMap will enable scientists to conduct more detailed genetic studies. Specifically, it has revealed that genes related to DNA repair are not as diverse as those involved in the body’s immune response. Professor Deloukas predicts that in the next 2-3 years, a wealth of information will emerge from such studies.
Minh Sơn (According to ABCNews, Reuters)
