
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993                   TAG: 9312160154
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: C-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CHROMOSOME MAP LOCATES GENE MARKERS

Scientists have roughed out the first comprehensive map of all human chromosomes, a feat considered one of the high hurdles of the ambitious and expensive international effort to parse the complete genetic blueprint for a human being.

The map should sharply accelerate scientists' efforts to isolate the 100,000 genes that make up human DNA, to track down mutations that result in disease, to trace the evolution of humanity as recorded by subtle runes inscribed in the genes and to solve other grand puzzles of biology. Those efforts are all part of the Human Genome project, a 15-year program under way at dozens of laboratories in the United States and abroad.

The new map, called a physical map, is still preliminary, and the researchers who generated it concede that it has many flaws. Nevertheless, the effort is considered a significant stride forward. Although scientists have been analyzing the chromosomes in piecemeal fashion for years, the map is the first attempt to give an overview of the 23 pairs of chromosomes.

"It's not perfect, and I don't want anybody to think I'm saying it's perfect," said Dr. Daniel Cohen, a molecular biologist at the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain in Paris. "As with all maps, it needs to be refined."

Cohen, who called the physical map "an important milestone," is one of three scientists reporting on their generation of the map in today's issue of the journal Nature.

"I think it's kind of great," said Dr. Kathleen Gardiner, a molecular biologist at the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute in Denver who has worked on mapping chromosomes.

The new compilation may be called a map, but it does not resemble a standard map. It consists of two elements: large collections of yeast cells growing on laboratory dishes, each cell enfolding a particular segment of a human chromosome; and lists of 2,000 genetic markers, precise descriptions of biochemical patterns found on the different chromosomal chunks.

Cohen said he would give out information about the markers over electronic mail to any interested scientist. Researchers can also request any of the 33,000 chromosomal segments, or clones, which will be sent in test tubes and kept fresh on dry ice.

"You can call and say, `I need this and this clone,' and you'll get it in two days," he said.

With clones and markers in hand, researchers can cut their search for individual genes by months or years, Cohen said.

Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of the National Center for Human Genome Research in Bethesda, Md., said, "If it's as good as it appears to be, it will certainly make the life of the gene hunter easier than it used to be."

by CNB