[Ip-health] Chimp genome placed in public domain

[Mike Palmedo]

http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/11509418


      Chimp Genome Assembled by Sequencing Centers

*Draft Sequence Aligned With Human Genome*

*BETHESDA**, **Md.**,* Dec. 10, 2003 - The National Human Genome
Research Institute (NHGRI), one of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), today announced the first draft version of the genome sequence of
the chimpanzee and its alignment with the human genome. All of the data
have been deposited into free public databases and are now available for
use by scientists around the world.

The sequence of the chimpanzee, Pan troglodytes, was assembled by
NHGRI-funded teams led by Eric Lander, Ph.D., at The Eli & Edythe L.
Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard
University, Cambridge, Mass.; and Richard K. Wilson, Ph.D., at the
Genome Sequencing Center, Washington University School of Medicine,
Saint Louis.

Researchers deposited the initial assembly, which is based on four-fold
sequence coverage of the chimp genome, into the NIH-run, public
database, GenBank <http://www.ncbi.nih.gov/Genbank>. In turn, Genbank
will distribute the sequence data to the European Molecular Biology
Laboratory=92s Nucleotide Sequence Database, EMBL-Bank, and the DNA Data
Bank of Japan, DDBJ <http://www.ddbj.nig.ac.jp>.

To facilitate biomedical studies comparing regions of the chimp genome
with similar regions of the human genome, the researchers also have
aligned the draft version of the chimp sequence with the human sequence.
Those alignments can be scanned using the University of California,
Santa Cruz=92s Genome Browser; the National Center for Biotechnology
Information=92s Map Viewer; and the European Bioinformatics Institute=92s
Ensembl system.

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the
University of Washington in Seattle, Washington University and the Broad
Institute (MIT/Harvard), is currently comparing the chimp and human
genome sequences and plans to publish results of its analysis in the
next several months.

Chimpanzees are the most closely related species to humans.
Consequently, comparative analysis of the human and chimp genomes can
reveal unique types of information impossible to obtain from comparing
the human genome with the genomes of other animals. For more on the
scientific rationale for sequencing the chimp genome, go to: Sequencing
the Chimpanzee Genome. For more on comparative genomic analysis, go to:
Background on Comparative Genomic Analysis.

NHGRI is one of 27 institutes and centers at NIH, an agency of the
Department of Health and Human Services. The NHGRI Division of
Extramural Research supports grants for research and for training and
career development at sites nationwide. Information about NHGRI can be
found at: www.genome.gov.

*For additional information on the chimp genome assembly, contact:*

*National Human Genome Research Institute*
Geoff Spencer
(301) 402-0911
spencerg@mail.nih.gov

*The Eli & Edythe L. Broad Institute, MIT/Harvard*
Lisa Marinelli
(617) 252-1967
marinelli@broad.mit.edu

*Washington** University School of Medicine*
Joni Westerhouse
(314) 286-0120
westerhousej@wustl.edu

*University of **Washington*
Walter Neary
(206) 685-3841
wneary@u.washington.edu