They are forming an integral part of a multinational project to develop a genetic map which shows our variations.

It is known as a haplotype map and their work goes by the name the China HapMap Project.

Haplotypes are large blocks of DNA that contain the single-letter genetic variations. They are intrinsic and ancestral segments.

The genetic variations are known as SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), which make one person genetically distinctive from others.

The differences in SNPs may also make some people more susceptible to a disease compared with others.

Biologists found that the SNPs tend to travel together in large blocks, which they have defined as haplotypes.

They believe a map of the haplotypes, or HapMap, will become a powerful tool to help detect genetic contributions to many diseases such as asthma, cancer, diabetes and heart disease.

They say the HapMap will not only lead to the identification of genes related to certain diseases, but should also help pinpoint genes that influence how people react to medication.

These discoveries could help improve the design of medicine and lead to the development of diagnostic tools aimed at preventing adverse drug reactions.

The project is built around the soon-to-be-completed Human Genome Project (HGP) -- which will produce a blueprint of genetic information shared by all humans.

But it goes further into the genetic differences of individuals, according to Yang Huanming, director of the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and coordinator of the China HapMap Consortium.

If the HGP covers 99.9 percent of the genetic information that makes us similar, the HapMap deals with the remainder that makes us different, said Yang who, along with his colleagues at BGI and other Chinese institutions, has made impressive contributions to the HGP.

"Only after the completion of the human HapMap will the significance of the human genome be demonstrated to medical research and treatment," Yang said.

The China HapMap Project is part of the International HapMap Project, which was launched in October and involves five countries.

China was represented by Yang at the launch and was assigned 10 percent of the workload, equal to that of Canada. The Unites States bears 31 percent and Japan 25 percent, followed by the United Kingdom with 24 percent.

"That's a giant leap compared with the 1 percent workload assigned to Chinese scientists in the Human Genome Project," Yang said.

China is responsible for the mapping of haplotypes in chromosome 3, chromosome 8 and chromosome 21.

Following several months of preparation, the China HapMap Project officially started last week after a meeting of seven participants from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

It is a Chinese scientific effort in its truest sense, Yang says.

Three research institutes from Hong Kong and one from Taiwan joined BGI and two other mainland groups for the mapping work, the first such kind of collaboration among them.

Sample Collection

To create the HapMap, DNA will be taken from blood samples collected by researchers in Nigeria, Japan, China and the United States.

Initially, researchers will work with samples from between 200 and 400 people in widely distributed geographic regions.

Samples will be collected from the Yorubas in Nigeria, Japanese, Han Chinese and US residents with ancestry from northern and western Europe.

China is to provide one-sixth of the samples, equal to the proportion of Chinese people in the world.

A total of 130 blood samples will be taken from Han Chinese, Yang said.

A careful sampling strategy has been developed to ensure that participants give full informed consent to take part.

No medical information or details that personally identify the participants will be obtained.

The samples, however, will be identified by the population from which they were collected.

Ellen Clayton, chairwoman of the group which is addressing the ethical and social issues associated with the research under the International HapMap Project, emphasized that the blood sampling "must be done as ethically and transparently as we can."

Yang said the Chinese consortium will strictly follow the rules and procedures set out.

Volunteers will be publicly called for and informed about the project before they make a decision to take part or not.

"The rights of those who choose not to participate will also be fully protected," Yang said.

Researchers from academic centers, non-profit biomedical research groups and private companies in participating countries will analyze the samples to create the HapMap.

The results will be made quickly and will be freely available on the Internet in keeping with the data release approach of the Human Genome Project, said Yang.

He also revealed the International HapMap Project will be finished by the end of next year, but that the Chinese consortium will get its share of work done at least two months earlier than the cut off date.

(China Daily April 9, 2003)