HUGO Pacific Pan-Asian SNP Initiative to Explore Genetic Diversity for Nearly Half the World's Population
19 November 2004 - 10:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
HUGO Pacific Pan-Asian SNP Initiative to Explore Genetic Diversity
for Nearly Half the World's Population Study Expects to Provide a
Detailed and Comprehensive Genetic Picture of Asian Populations
BIOPOLIS, Singapore, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A coalition
of scientists from Asian countries announced today that they are
organizing a study of genetic diversity in Asian populations, the
HUGO Pacific Pan-Asian SNP Initiative, which will provide a
detailed and comprehensive genetic picture of nearly half the
world's population. The results from the study will be placed in a
public database to help researchers better understand the scope of
genetic differences between Asian populations. International
collaboration The Pan-Asian SNP Initiative was established by
scientists from China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,
Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan. Affymetrix,
Inc. (NASDAQ:AFFX) is a co-sponsor of the study and is providing a
new microarray technology that will enable the researchers to look
at 50,000 genetic differences, or single nucleotide polymorphisms
(SNPs) in each study participant. The goal of this initiative is to
uncover the breadth of genetic diversity and the extent of genetic
similarity in Asia. This information will form the basis for future
studies in genomic medicine focused on Asian populations. First
detailed look at Asian "genetic history" The study is a natural
next step from the Human Genome Project, which showed how similar
humans are -- everyone's DNA is 99.9 percent identical -- but
revealed little about the genetic factors that make us different.
"Just as families share certain genetic characteristics, like eye
colour or curly hair, Pan-Asian scientists believe that regional
Asian populations share unique genetic variations that go back
thousands of years," said Professor Edison Liu, Executive Director,
Genome Institute of Singapore. "The study will give scientists a
'genetic map' of human history in Asia, showing how nearly half of
the world's population migrated throughout the region and settled
to form the distinct cultures that we know today." A picture of a
population's genetic profile The Pan-Asian study will also help
scientists understand the most important genetic differences
between Asian populations, including those that can affect health.
"Data from the Pan-Asian study will provide a platform for
researchers in this region to study why some populations seem
predisposed to certain diseases, or don't respond to certain
drugs," said Dr. Yoshi Sakaki, Director, RIKEN Genomics Center in
Yokohama, Japan and President of HUGO Pacific. "The initiative will
also provide training in population genetics for young researchers
in this region and foster additional health studies." New
technology enables new science The study will include as many as
several hundred people from each of the Asian countries mentioned
above, sampling about 2,600 participants in the first phase. Up to
now, a study like the Pan-Asian SNP Initiative would have been
difficult because the technology needed to look at the genome at
this level of detail was not readily accessible. This new SNP
microarray technology makes it possible by combining semi-conductor
manufacturing technology with chemistry to put millions of
different strands of DNA on a single glass chip the size of a
thumbnail. "Just a couple of years ago, an experiment like this
would have required hundreds of scientists and taken years to
complete at costs that would have been prohibitive," said Professor
Liu. "This technology is enabling us to do new science; it's
opening up the study to all researchers including those with less
developed research infrastructures." The study is expected to begin
in the middle of 2005. About HUGO Pacific: The Human Genome
Organization (HUGO) is an international organization based in the
UK and established in 1989 by a group of scientists originally
involved in the Human Genome Project (HGP). The HUGO Pacific, which
is sponsoring the Pan-Asian SNP Initiative, is a chapter of the
main HUGO. Its office is based at the University of Tokyo, Japan.
HUGO Pacific has held four conferences in the Asia-Pacific region
together with the Asia-Pacific Conference on Human Genetics.
Singapore is a founding member of the HUGO Pacific together with
Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. DATASOURCE:
Affymetrix, Inc. CONTACT: William Chia, +65 6424 6387, or mobile,
+65 9684 3800, or , or Gail McIsaac, +65 6424 6370, or mobile, +65
9824 1475, or , both of Fleishman-Hillard Pte Ltd, for Affymetrix,
Inc.; or Daniel Lum, Secretariat of Pan-Asian SNP Initiative 2004,
+65 6478 8013, or Web site: http://www.affymetrix.com/
Copyright
Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024
Affymetrix (NASDAQ:AFFX)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024