DNA sequencing leads to genomics progress in China

Abstract

Ten years ago, the first draft sequence assembly of the human genome was completed [1], bringing biomedical research one-step closer toward the goal of revolutionizing diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of human diseases. Recently, journalists from the journal Nature surveyed more than 1000 life scientists regarding this laudable aim [2], obtaining substantially negative responses [3]. However, almost all of those surveyed had been influenced, in one way or another, by the availability of the human genome sequence, and they also agreed with the notion that the “sequence is the start.” The complexity of genome biology and almost every aspect of human biology is far greater than previously thought [4]. The Ministry of Science and Technology in China, and several local governments, have helped to establish several genomics institutions since 1998: the Chinese National Human Genome Center in Shanghai (commonly known as the Southern Center), the National Human Genome Center in Beijing (the Northern Center), the Beijing Institute of Genomics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (known as BIG-CAS; established initially as the Human Genome Center at the Institute of Genetics), and the Beijing Genomics Institute (also known as BGI or Huada, which had been part of BIG-CAS until it moved to Shenzhen) [5]. Chinese scientists contributed data to the International Human Genome Project and the HapMap Project, as well as several other multinational genome projects. Genomic studies in China have paved the way for interdisciplinary research and collaboration in life sciences in China.