Revision slashes gene estimate in humans

Medicine & Biotech Forum

Revision slashes gene estimate in humans

Last Updated Wed, 20 Oct 2004 15:15:26 EDT


LONDON - Humans have about 20,000 to 25,000 genes, about the same as a tiny roundworm, a new estimate shows.

When researchers first published a draft of the human "book of life" in 2001, they estimated people have from 30,000 to 40,000 genes that code for how to make proteins.


The next step for geneticists is to decipher the portion of the genome lacking genes. Many scientists initially bet we had 100,000 genes.

Now they've polished their draft, cutting out the genes from heavily-duplicated regions of the human genetic code. These regions were hard to study in the draft.

In comparison, the roundworm C. elegans, has around 19,500 genes. Scientists use the worm to study how cells specialize and organs develop.

Another model organism for researchers, the tiny flowering plant Arabidopsis, has about 27,000 genes.

But it's not the size of the genome that matters; it's how nature uses it, said study co-author Eric Lander of the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Mass. In the case of humans, genes often code for multiple proteins instead of just one.

The new study identifies 1,183 genes that appeared in the last 60 to 100 million years and seem to be common in primates.

The update, which appears in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature, covers 99 per cent of the gene-containing part of the genome and is 99.9 per cent accurate, scientists said.

Scientists hope the updated version of the human genome will help them to search for the causes of disease and heritable factors that predispose people to disease.

I think "Gene Therapy" research will find some methods of healing today's "Diseases".

They will insert healthy genes to replace the "bad" genes.

I know of some companies working on it now.

Agreed, Becker. Science fiction has always imagined some pill or nano-tech machine or something repairing DNA on a cellular level. I believe methods will be devised using stem cells to inject revised strains of DNA into key points in a body that will over time replace older cells with newer ones that have the corrected DNA. Another method might be to engineer a virus strain whose sole function is to distribute the revised DNA and then shed the carrier molecule. Cells with old DNA would be revised upon contact, new DNA would be unaffected. Treatment using this method could affect key points throughout the body on a massive scale rather than just those that are hand-selected using the stem cell method.

It's all very interesting stuff, but must be done carefully. Abominations could also be possible with this line of research, so I hope that most companies are taking an ethical, scientific approach in hopes of curing disease for now until they learn just what the hell they're doing.

The whole process is very fascinating. I agree that gene therapy could prove to be beneficial in the future. As Sean mentioned, abominations could be a possibility, so lets hope they use proper ethics as well as strict regulatory measures.

The last thing the world needs is another Josef Mengele.

I feel positive about the research being ethical.

It is being done by a publicly held company and they have to report to stockholders.

They have been doing the research for quite some time.

I used to trade in their stock. It eludes my memory just now.

If I can track it down i will post it.

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Our Company
Human Genome Sciences is a pioneer in genomics for the discovery and development of new pharmaceutical products. Our goal today is the same as when we were founded in 1992: to create a global biopharmaceutical company to discover, develop, manufacture, and market gene-based drugs to treat and cure disease.

Human Genome Sciences is a mid-stage development biopharmaceutical company with a significant product pipeline derived from proprietary genomic technology. We focus our internal research and development efforts on novel protein and antibody drugs and on new long-acting versions of existing drugs by coupling then with our albumin fusion technology. We are able to produce our own protein and antibody drugs for preclinical studies and clinical trials. We have nine products in clinical development, including drugs to treat such diseases as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, hepatitis C, chronic venous ulcers, growth hormone deficiency, and immunodeficiencies.

We are also constructing a large-scale manufacturing facility to support our increasing needs for protein and antibody drug production related to the continuing progress of our product candidates and, eventually, the initial commercialization of our products.

Interesting, Becker. Do you still trade in their stock?


Geneticists need to get busy working on something for the immune system that will help in gene therapy research. One of the problems they faced in the '90's, was that the human immune system wasn't supportive of gene therapy in their human test subjects. The immune system is designed to attack foreign "objects" that invade the body. Gene therapy hasn't been successful yet because of the immune system's response to it. Hopefully they'll find a solution.

No...TWII...Human Genome Research results are a long way from the present.

Investing in a stock too early makes the odds too high.