An international team of scientists announced a major milestone in the quest to map all human genes: the sequencing of the first human chromosome. The team included US researchers, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as investigators from laboratories in England and Japan.
The group reported their achievement in the December 2 issue of Nature. The effort is part of the massive Human Genome Project, an initiative to sequence the entire human genome by 2005—a goal now projected to be reached by 2003.
The chromosome of the moment is chromosome 22, the second smallest of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes. Earlier studies had already revealed that it appears to be involved in immune function as well as playing a role in a host of diseases, including several cancers, congenital heart disease, and schizophrenia.
The feat marks the first time scientists have . . . [Full Text of this Article]
