Chinese scientists have worked out a highly efficient tool to decode information in mammal's genome and hopefully to study more closely the mammalian life cycle, including causes for birth defects and certain diseases.
The findings, a transposition system dubbed PiggyBac and its elements, are "landmark findings with the potential to alter the way mouse genetics is carried out worldwide, and with implications for human gene therapy," say editors with Cell, an authoritative international magazine on life science.
The findings have been summarized into a thesis and will be published on the upcoming issue of the magazine, according to sources with the Shanghai-based Fudan University and Cell's website.
Entitled "efficient transposition of the PiggyBac Transposition in Mammalian Cells and Mice," the thesis will make a cover story, said Prof. Xu Tian, head of the university's developmental biology institute and leader of the research team.
The first author of the thesis is Ding Sheng, a third-year graduate student at Fudan University.
In Chinese, the PiggyBac, a DNA transposon from a moth, is named after "Kua'e", the Hercules in Chinese legends. Its elements can be used for genetic manipulation of mice, including generating transgenic mice.
The researchers have used the transposable elements in mice because earlier researches found mice and humans each have about 30,000 genes, among which 99 percent are similar. Besides, more than 90 percent of genes associated with diseases are identical in humans and mice.
The new tool can also pinpoint genes for certain diseases and build models for gene therapy and other new therapies and medications.
The international Human Genome Project has found through sequencing that mammals have around 30,000 genes, but scientists are yet to decode the information in the genome.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2005)
