Method aims to speed wide DNA analysis
Researchers could get data from thousands of genomes at once
A Nobel laureate has devised a method to obtain information from thousands of genomes at once in an advance that could speed up the search for the causes of diseases and new treatments.
South African-born Dr Sydney Brenner said on Wednesday his new method will allow researchers to discover information about genetic differences of whole populations very quickly.
"In order for disease research to provide more immediate benefits for society, we do not have to know everything about every gene," Brenner said in a statement on Wednesday.
But what is important is uncovering variations in genes that contribute to diseases.
"This new technology will enable users to discover extremely quickly much information about such gene variants from studies of whole populations," he added.
The Wellcome Trust, one of the world's biggest research charities, has granted a new company called Population Genetics Technologies 1.1 million pounds ($2.1 million) to develop the method that could improve understanding of why people react to drugs differently and how to tailor medications to suit an individual.
"Our new method, if successful, will be a huge leap forward as it is expected to provide a significant cost advantage over other techniques which analyze one genome at a time, no matter how efficiently," said Dr Sam Eletr, a co-founder of the company which will be based in Cambridge, England.
Brenner shared the Nobel medicine prize in 2002 with Robert Horvitz of the United States and Briton John Sulston for their work on genetic regulation of organ development and cell death.
路透社4月19日訊，科學家們可以從數(shù)千個基因組中同時收集數(shù)據(jù),。
一位曾榮獲諾貝爾獎的科學家設計了一種新的方法,，可以同時從數(shù)千個基因組中迅速地采集數(shù)據(jù)，從而使科學家們可以更快地研究出各種疾病起因以及新的治療方法,。
南非裔博士西德尼·布瑞爾稱他設計了一種新的方法能夠幫助研究者們以更快的速度進行人類遺傳基因差異信息的研究,。
“為了使各種疾病研究結果可以更快地造福于社會，我們沒有必要全面地了解每一個基因的功能,，”布瑞爾聲稱,。
但是重點是要找出導致疾病的遺傳變異基因。“這種新技術能夠幫助使用者以極快的速度從人類基因組自研究資料中發(fā)現(xiàn)有關各種變異基因的信息,，”他補充說,。
威爾康信托基金會——世界上最大的研究資助組織之一——已經(jīng)同意向一個名為“種群遺傳技術”的公司提供110萬英鎊（210萬美元）的資金來開發(fā)一種新的方法，以便研究者們能夠進一步了解為什么人們會對同樣的藥物會產生不同的反應以及如何開發(fā)適合不同個人的藥物治療方法,。
“我們的新方法如果成功的話,，這將是一個巨大的進步。與其它一次只能分析一個基因組的技術相比,，它擁有巨大的的成本優(yōu)勢,，”山姆·埃羅特博士說，他是該公司的創(chuàng)始人之一,。這家公司的總部將設在英國劍橋,。
布瑞爾與美國科學家羅勃特·何維茲和英國科學家約翰·薩爾頓三人憑借他們在器官發(fā)育和細胞死亡方面的遺傳基因研究成果一舉獲得了2002年的諾貝爾醫(yī)學獎。
