Chinese scientists call for genome structure program

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, October 18, 2003

Chinese scientists call for genome structure program

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Chinese scientists appealed the other day for China's own structural genome program to determine the spatial structure of more proteins and to set off the "express train" in life science and the research and development of new medicines.

With the rise of Human Genome Program and Human Proteome Project, a lot of new proteins will emerge. Research groups in European and American countries are stepping up their researches on new methods and technologies in determining the three-dimensional structure of the big molecules of organisms. Therefore, genomic study, with determining the structures of proteins, the gene products as its goal, has become the target spot of structural biology in recent years. As an interdisciplinary and international cooperation project, the research on genome structure aims to determine ultimately the spatial structures of all the proteins of human beings. Lai Luhua, professor with Peking University said that the governments of the United States, Japan and European countries have invested heavily on this research and some private enterprises and foundations also took an active part in the research and development. The United States has launched the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI) in as early as September 2000 with an allotment of 300 million US dollars in the first five years, planning to determine 10,000 protein structures in 10 years.

"We must set up our own genome structure program and bring forward our own research strategy." Experts such as Lai Luhua appealed that according to genome sequencing situation in China, the determination research on the structure of proteins should try to focus on those plant, animal and microorganism resources related to human diseases or those in exclusive existence in China.

By PD Online staff member Gao Lanrong

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