Genome programmes: an opportunity for biology.
The development of human molecular genetics in the eighties led to the implementation of projects aimed at a systematic study of the human genetic make-up--the so-called "Genome Projects". These have so far been mainly concerned with genome mapping, both by family studies using polymorphic markers (genetic mapping) and by direct analysis of DNA with suitable fractionation and cloning methods (physical mapping). Major progress has been made in both fields recently. Sequencing per se has remained limited because of technical constraints, although systematic cDNA sequencing has caught on in a large way. National policies are quite diverse, with the USA, the UK, France and Japan being the major players; funding sources range from governments to foundations. Many of the results, methods and concepts obtained or implemented during genome studies can be of great use to "conventional" laboratories, and efficient interfacing between these two worlds is an increasingly important issue.
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CIML INSERM/CNRS, Luminy, Marseille, France.
D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005060:Europe; D016045:Human Genome Project; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D014481:United States