The scientists also announced that they expect to have a third of the genome ``sequenced'' by 2001. Sequencing involves determining the order of the units of genetic information that make up the body's genetic plan. The researchers said that they planned to focus on sequencing the part of the genome that contains ``genes or other aspects important to biologists.'' They promised to have a ``working draft'' of most of the rest of the genome finished by 2001.
A recent review of the project's progress to date convinced the leadership that the entire genome could be mapped by 2003, Francis S. Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and chair of the council said in a statement to the press. ``No one else is doing this,'' she added.
One competitor, however, has promised to map the entire genome even sooner. Dr. J. Craig Venter, co-founder and director of Celera Genomics, recently announced that the Rockville, Maryland-based firm would finish the job by 2001. Celera, however, is using a sequencing technique that differs significantly from the strategy NHGRI scientists are employing.
``Reports I've seen describe it as a competition, but it's more of a synergism of sorts,'' NHGRI spokesman Leslie Fink told Reuters Health in an interview. ``The projects will be fundamentally different. Though both will be DNA sequences, they will be DNA sequences derived using different strategies. It is quite possible that the two producers will learn from one another how to refine their own strategies, as more data gets into the public domain for analysis.''
The Human Genome Project, begun in 1990, is a joint effort of the NHGRI, National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Energy. Most of the research is carried out in university research centers and national laboratories.
To date, all of the project's proposed goals have been met or exceeded, according to the NHGRI. Thus far, project scientists have described 180 million units of human DNA.
On Monday, the NHGRI also announced that it planned to extend the scope
of the project, and investigate some new areas, including the way variations
in human DNA sequences affect disease susceptibility.