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ESI Special Topics, June 2003
Citing URL: http://www.esi-topics.com/erf/2003/junel03-RichardMural.html

From •>>June 2003

Richard J. Mural answers a few questions about this month's emerging research front in field of Molecular Biology & Genetics:

Molecular Biology & Genetics
Article Title: "A comparison of whole-genome shotgun-derived mouse chromosome 16 and the human genome"
 Author: Mural, RJ;Adams, MD;Myers, EW;Smith, HO;Miklos, GLG;Wides, R;Halpern, A;Li, PW;Sutton, GG;Nadeau, J;Salzberg, SL;Holt, RA;Kodira, CD;Lu, F;Chen, L;Deng, ZM;Evangelista, CC;Gan, WN;Heiman, TJ;Li, JY;Li, ZY;Merkulov, GV;Milshina, NV;Naik, AK;Qi, R;Shue, BC;Wang, AH;Wang, J;Wang, X;Yan, XH;Ye, JN;Yooseph, S;Zhao, Q;Zheng, LS;Zhu, SPC;Biddick, K;Bolanos, R;Delcher, AL;Dew, IM;Fasulo, D;Flanigan, MJ;Huson, DH;Kravitz, SA;Miller, JR;Mobarry, CM;Reinert, K;Remington, KA;Zhang, Q;Zheng, XQH;Nusskern, DR;Lai, ZW;Lei, YD;Zhong, WY;Yao, A;Guan, P;Ji, RR;Gu, ZP;Wang, ZY;Zhong, F;Xiao, CL;Chiang, CC;Yandell, M;Wortman, JR;Amanatides, PG;Hladun, SL;Pratts, EC;Johnson, JE;Dodson, KL;Woodford, KJ;Evans, CA;Gropman, B;Rusch, DB;Venter, E;Wang, V;Smith, TJ;Houck, JT;Tompkins, DE;Haynes, C;Jacob, D;Chin, SH;Allen, DR;Dahlke, CE;Sanders, R;Li, K;Liu, XJ;Levitsky, AA;Majoros, WH;Chen, Q;Xia, AC;Lopez, JR;Donnelly, MT;Newman, MH;Glodek, A;Kraft, CL;Nodell, M;Ali, F;An, HJ;Baldwin-Pitts, D;Beeson, KY;Cai, S;Carnes, M;Carver, A;Caulk, PM;Center, A;Chen, YH;Cheng, ML;Coyne, MD;Crowder, M;Danaher, S;Davenport, LB;Desilets, R;Dietz, SM;Doup, L;Dullaghan, P;Ferriera, S;Fosler, CR;Gire, HC;Gluecksmann, A;Gocayne, JD;Gray, J;Hart, B;Haynes, J;Hoover, J;Howland, T;Ibegwam, C;Jalali, M;Johns, D;Kline, L;Ma, DS;MacCawley, S;Magoon, A;Mann, F;May, D;McIntosh, TC;Mehta, S;Moy, L;Moy, MC;Murphy, BJ;Murphy, SD;Nelson, KA;Nuri, Z;Parker, KA;Prudhomme, AC;Puri, VN;Qureshi, H;Raley, JC;Reardon, MS;Regier, MA;Rogers, YHC;Romblad, DL;Schutz, J;Scott, JL;Scott, R;Sitter, CD;Smallwood, M;Sprague, AC;Stewart, E;Strong, RV;Suh, E;Sylvester, K;Thomas, R;Tint, NN;Tsonis, C;Wang, G;Wang, G;Williams, MS;Williams, SM;Windsor, SM;Wolfe, K;Wu, MM;Zaveri, J;Chaturvedi, K;Gabrielian, AE;Ke, ZX;Sun, JT;Subramanian, G;Venter, JC
Journal: SCIENCE, 296: (5573) 1661-1671, MAY 31 2002
Addresses:
Celera Genom, 45 W Gude Dr, Rockville, MD 20850 USA.
Celera Genom, Rockville, MD 20850 USA.
GenetixXpress, Sydney, NSW 2108, Australia.
Bar Ilan Univ, Fac Life Sci, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Case Western Reserve Univ, Sch Med, Ctr Computat Genom, Dept Genet, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA.
Univ Hosp Cleveland, Ctr Human Genet, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA.


ST:  Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

This paper was the first to present the entire sequence of a non-human mammalian chromosome. It clearly showed the power of comparative genomics in the study of mammalian genomes. This is now an exciting area that is being driven by the sequencing of the genomes of many other organisms.

ST:  Does it describe a new discovery or new methodology that's useful to others? 

This paper also established unequivocally that the whole genome shotgun method (WGS) was a rapid and very powerful way to sequence and assemble large genomes. The sequence of chromosome 16 was presented as example of this method since, rather than being generated in a targeted fashion, it was pulled out of the sequence of the entire mouse genome that was generated at Celera.

ST:  Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

One of the best ways to begin to understand the biological meaning of the sequence of the human genome is to compare it to sequences of the genomes of other organisms. The mouse is a particularly useful animal for this comparison because it is, like humans, a mammal and because it is widely used in biomedical research. Comparing chromosome 16 of the mouse to the entire human genome, we find very long segments, millions of base pairs, which contain the same genes in the same order in both species. These are regions that have conserved in these animals in the way that they were in a mammal that lived 100 million years ago and was the last common ancestor of mice and men. By comparing the sequence of the genomes of many organisms we will gain insight into basic biological processes that are critical to human health and well being.

ST:  How did you become involved in this research? 

I have been at Celera since 2000 and was part of the team that sequenced the human genome. Before joining Celera I was at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory where I had been involved with the human genome project since the early 1990s.End

Richard J. Mural, Ph.D.
Director, Scientific Content and Analysis
Celera Genomics
Rockville, MD, USA

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ESI Special Topics, June 2003
Citing URL: http://www.esi-topics.com/erf/2003/junel03-RichardMural.html
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