Researchers launch 1000 Genomes Project

Researchers from England's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, the US National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), and China's Beijing Genomics Institute-Shenzhen are going to launch the 1000 Genomes Project in order to get the most detailed data on DNA and try to find out the genetic root of human disease.

Photo: Researchers launch 1000 Genomes Project

Researchers launch 1000 Genomes Project

The researchers expect to get more details of the one percent of DNA that varies from person to person and which is often responsible for differences in susceptibility to disease and reaction to treatments among individuals.

A number of specific ethnic groups will take part in this project, including Yoruba in Ibadan, Nigeria; Chinese in Denver, Colorado, and Chinese in Beijing; Toscani in Italy, Gujarati Indians in Houston, Texas; Mexicans in Los Angeles and African descendants in the US southwest.

Thanks to new methods and developed technology in the field of DNA sequencing the project will help the researchers slash the cost of DNA sequencing to one-tenth of what it would have been recently.

All the results will be placed on freely accessible databases for scientists worldwide to make use of.