Human Gene Map to Be Launched on World Wide Web

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Human Gene Map to Be Launched on World Wide Web:

International Project to Greatly Accelerate Research and Expand Public Understanding of Genetic Disease

Thursday, October 24, 1996

(Bethesda, Maryland) -- Calling the "Human Gene Map" "a landmark in biology that will help unlock the mysteries of disease," Dr. Donald A.B. Lindberg, Director of the National Library of Medicine of the National Institutes of Health, today announced that the map will be published in the October 25th issue of Science. The map will be launched on the Internet in a press demonstration and briefing to be held Thursday, October 24, 1996, at 1:00 p.m. in the Lister Hill Auditorium, Lister Hill Center (Building 38-A, off Center Drive), National Institutes of Health, 8600 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland. Lindberg noted, "This map represents the most extensive effort so far to locate and identify the 80,000 genes in the human genome -- the full set of genetic instructions inside a human cell."

"A map of this detail gives disease-gene hunters who have narrowed their search to a specific region on a chromosome about a 1 in 5 chance that the gene they are looking for has already been characterized by this effort," said Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH's National Center for Human Genome Research, which has funded two of the largest contributors -- Stanford and Whitehead Institute/MIT. "This gene-hunting strategy has already been used successfully to locate and isolate genes responsible for Alzheimer's disease and inherited colon cancer, and can now be greatly expanded," Dr. Collins noted.

"The human gene map will speed the discovery of genes contributing to common diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis and psychiatric disorders," said Dr. David Lipman, Director of the Library's National Center for Biotechnology Information, which coordinated the project. "Once identified, treatments, diagnostics, and cures can be developed," Lipman said.

"At the same time, the map will provide the public with a continuously updated window of progress as mapping of the human genome unfolds," Dr. Lipman added. "The 'gene map' takes a complex subject out of the research lab and makes it understandable in our nation's classrooms, and in the homes of Internet users wherever they reside," he continued. "Students will be able to visualize where genes responsible for disease reside on their 23 pairs of chromosomes. Such a widely accessible means of educating the public about genetics and the role of genes in disease is essential if the American public is to benefit fully from the health care advances in genetics."

Dr. Greg Schuler and Dr. Mark Boguski, both NCBI researchers and two of the principal authors of the Science article on the gene map, pointed out that the map's creation was an international collaboration on an extraordinary scale. "104 authors on 3 continents were involved in the production of the Science article," explained Dr. Boguski. "The project received financial support from a diverse group of sponsors which included public funding agencies in the United States, Canada, France, England, and Japan, a private foundation and a pharmaceutical company," he continued.

Dr. Schuler observed, "The gene map will also be of enormous benefit to pharmaceutical companies and small biotechnology firms developing new drugs. It represents a model for cooperative research and development projects between the Federal government and private industry."

Principal investigators on the Gene map project include:

Dr. Eric Lander (617)252-1906, Dr. Tom Hudson (in Canada) (514)-937-6011 x2456 Whitehead/MIT, Center for Genome Research, 9 Cambridge Center,Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142;

Dr. David Cox, Stanford Genome Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305, (415)725-8042;

Dr. David Bentley, The Sanger Center, Hinxton Hall, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK, drb@sanger.ac.uk;

Dr. Michael James, Wellcome Trust Center for Human Genetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Windmill Road, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK 44- 1-865-740-015;

Dr. Jean Weissenbach, 33-1-6947-2862, Dr. Jacqui Beckmann, 33-1-6947-2938, Genethon, CNRS URA 1922, 1 rue de l'Internationale, 91000 Evry, France;

The URL for the new web site is: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/SCIENCE96/.
It will be activated at 4:00 P.M. Oct. 24.

B-roll will be available for stations on
Thursday, October 24 from 1:30 - 2:00 p.m., EST
Satellite Feed Coordinates: Galaxy C, 4/Transponder 9

For press packets or further information, contact Bob Mehnert or Kathy Gardner of the National Library of Medicine at (301)496-6308.

OFFICE OF PUBLIC INFORMATION

• Bob Mehnert
  Phone: 301-496-6308
  (mehnert@nlm.nih.gov)
• Kathy Gardner
  Phone: 301-496-6308
  (kcravedi@nlm.nih.gov)

Last updated: 24 October 1996
First published: 24 October 1996
Permanence level: Permanent: Stable Content