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China at forefront of global DNA project
By Jiang Jingjing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-23 00:17
Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?
That's the title of what has been described as Paul Gaugin's ultimate
masterpiece painted circa 1897.
More than a century ago, the celebrated French post-Impressionist artist
tried to visually grapple with these existentialist issues but provided no
definite answers -- neither could many thinkers, philosophers and religious
figures before and after him.
More prosaically, a recent book, Our Place in Nature -- Where Do We Come
From, by well-known authors -- Dr Jan Klein and Dr Naoyuki Takahata -- described
how scienists decipher human origins from the record encrypted in DNA and
protein molecules.
An issue as profound as our origins, our existence and afterlife has perhaps
inevitably become entangled in politics, religion, schools and the courts in the
United States, where "creationists' face off against "evolutionists."
China is taking a scientic, albeit cautious, approach as it teams up with the
National Geographic Society) to address the issue and ensures that national
interests are not compromised.
The society, founded in 1888 and one of the world's largest non-profit
scientific and educational organizations, said this week in Beijing that China
will become be a major participant in a worldwide genographic project over the
next five years.
"About 10,000 samples will be collected in China, an important region for the
evolution of the human beings," said Jin Li, a professor at Fudan University.
The institution will be in charge of data collection in East and Southeast Asia
for the undertaking.
Jin said samples -- from cotton swabs used to collect cells inside the cheeks
of volunteers -- will be gathered on the bases of nationalities, language and
geographic characteristics. More than 100,000 will be amassed in 10 regions
across the world.
The project hopes to assemble one of the world's largest DNA databases, with
the goal of mapping how the Earth was originally populated.
Led by society Explorer-in-Residence Spencer Wells, a team of international
scientists and IBM researchers will analyze the results and report on the
genetic roots of modern humans.
Experiements from the project are expected to reveal rich details about
global human migratory history and to develop a new understanding about the
connections and differences that make up the human species.
Wells described the projecct as "the 'moon shot' of anthropology, using
genetics to fill in the gaps in our knowledge of human history."
He stressed the urgency of the project since people are migrating and
inter-marrying far more than in the past.
"Genetic history is at the edge of losing its track in the modern world,"
Wells said.
Jin promised that no Chinese DNA samples will be exported. "They will be
tested at the university locally in compliance with the Chinese regulations."
Qiu Hongwei, director of the department of the biological resource security
under the Human Genetic Resource Administration of China, said government
approval should be secured before any samples are actually collected.
"To better regulate such international genetic projects, a new regulation is
being drafted and will be sent to the State Council for approval. It is expected
to be approved next year," Qiu said.
He explained that genetic resources are personal and private information, and
that the protection of such data should be guaranteed according to the law.
He noted that few Chinese entererprises are engaged in genetic medical
research and "if some foreign drug producers get the information, they can
develop genetics-based drugs which could impact on China's pharmaceutical
industry."
However, Ajay K. Royyuru, senior manager of IBM's computational biology
centre, said that the safety of all data would be strictly
guaranteed.
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