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日讯，科学家们可以从数千个基因组中同时收集数据。
一位曾荣获诺贝尔奖的科学家设计了一种新的方法，可以同时从数千个基因组中迅速地采集数据，从而使科学家们可以更快地研究出各种疾病起因以及新的治疗方法。
南非裔博士西德尼·布瑞尔称他设计了一种新的方法能够帮助研究者们以更快的速度进行人类遗传基因差异信息的研究。
“为了使各种疾病研究结果可以更快地造福于社会，我们没有必要全面地了解每一个基因的功能，”布瑞尔声称。
但是重点是要找出导致疾病的遗传变异基因。“这种新技术能够帮助使用者以极快的速度从人类基因组自研究资料中发现有关各种变异基因的信息，”他补充说。
威尔康信托基金会——世界上最大的研究资助组织之一——已经同意向一个名为“种群遗传技术”的公司提供110万英镑（210万美元）的资金来开发一种新的方法，以便研究者们能够进一步了解为什么人们会对同样的药物会产生不同的反应以及如何开发适合不同个人的药物治疗方法。
“我们的新方法如果成功的话，这将是一个巨大的进步。与其它一次只能分析一个基因组的技术相比，它拥有巨大的的成本优势，”山姆·埃罗特博士说，他是该公司的创始人之一。这家公司的总部将设在英国剑桥。
布瑞尔与美国科学家罗勃特·何维兹和英国科学家约翰·萨尔顿三人凭借他们在器官发育和细胞死亡方面的遗传基因研究成果一举获得了2002年的诺贝尔医学奖。
