The successful sequencing of the genome of a people is highlysignificant because it is the key to hidden secrets about the history ofbiological development and characteristics, reported Nhan Dan (People)newspaper.
Recently a group of scientists added Vietnam to the list of 20 countries successfully sequencing the genome of their peoples.
Ina simple and unadorned staffroom with its window overlooking a line ofgreen African mahogany trees, Dr Le Sy Vinh at the Faculty ofInformation Technology at the University of Engineering and Technology –Vietnam National University in Hanoi (VNU-UET) talked about his andcolleagues’ dream of sequencing the Vietnamese human genome. Combiningboth information technology and biotechnology, the project has theparticipation of 12 members from VNU-UET, the VNU Information TechnologyInstitute, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) andOxford University.
The genome of a human beingcontains all of the genetic information that determines their biologicaldevelopment and characteristics. Once the genome of an individual issequenced and analysed, scientists can reveal information about thedevelopment process of that individual and forecast diseases from whichthey are at risk of suffering. The genomes of two separate individualsare virtually the same with only 0.1 percent difference.
Usingspecialised equipment and with thorough analysis, scientists can draw amap of the human genome like drawing a map of highways. By following andadding important information to each “route”, scientists can determinewhich genes are responsible for protein metabolism, which genes causecertain diseases and genetic differences that make one person differentfrom another.
Individuals of the same ethnicity usuallybear the common biological characteristics of that group. If the genomesof many individuals are sequenced, we can have a clearer picture of thebiological development and characteristics of an ethnicity as well astheir history of development and migration. Beyond that, it helpscomplete the migration routes of human races on the globalanthropological map.
Dr Vinh said on that map, Vietnam remains amysterious black spot. During their research, his team also paid closeattention to how migration relates to the Vietnamese people.
Accordingto Dr Vinh, they have achieved some early results and will continue theendeavour to decode much more information.
Adding Vietnam to the list of 20 countries successfully sequencing thehuman genome of their peoples is a scientific breakthrough. In the nearfuture, there will be an application that can detect more than 3,000genetic disorders in order to develop early prevention and treatmentplans. The effect of the project will spread beyond the laboratory.
In an interview with the newspaper, Dr Vinh shared his vision about practical applications for this project in the future.
Hesaid costs aside, the first issue facing them is developing a fullprocess in order to build and analyse the genome of an individual, fromcollecting and analysing data, to finding out and understanding newknowledge. This is a big and complicated mathematical problem with manydifferent stages, requiring a broad knowledge in multiple disciplinesfrom molecular biology to information technology, especially big dataprocessing. Thus developing a complete process that is appropriate toVietnam’s conditions is the most difficult problem.
Regarding computing capabilities, HUST and VNU-UET have largecomputing systems but they are not dedicated to processing large mathsproblems such as building and analysing the human genome, said Dr Vinh,adding that they have to design an appropriate computing process thatcan run on existing systems.
The whole processfrom the beginning to the announcement of the successful sequencing in2013 lasted about three years. At the end of 2013, the team received rawdata on the genome of a Vietnamese individual. The data contained morethan 108 billion nucleotides containing the genetic information of thatindividual.
On that basis, the research team began building andanalysing the genome of this individual using modern and highly accuratetechnology and computing methods on VNU-UET and HUST’s computingsystems.
The research group used bioinformaticsmethods and tools to build the genome from raw data collected, andanalyse the genome to work out and understand the differences comparedwith the standard human genome data as well as the genomes of otherraces. The result is that the genome sequenced by the team containedmore than three million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) comparedwith the human reference genome. Many new SNPs are only found in theVietnamese human genome. Analytical data also found some other newstructural polymorphisms.
The process to build and analyse thehuman genome brings many benefits to other fields, notably medicine,pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and anthropology. More importantly,genetic analysis and research will help doctors deviseindividually-oriented prevention and treatment strategies.
There are many diseases caused by gene mutations and these studieswill act as the precursor to find harmful changes, thereby discoveringdiseases that a person could suffer from, and working out preventive andtherapeutic measures tailored to that individual.
Dr Vinh affirmed in the future the team will work with medical scientists and large hospitals to provide this service.-VNA
Recently a group of scientists added Vietnam to the list of 20 countries successfully sequencing the genome of their peoples.
Ina simple and unadorned staffroom with its window overlooking a line ofgreen African mahogany trees, Dr Le Sy Vinh at the Faculty ofInformation Technology at the University of Engineering and Technology –Vietnam National University in Hanoi (VNU-UET) talked about his andcolleagues’ dream of sequencing the Vietnamese human genome. Combiningboth information technology and biotechnology, the project has theparticipation of 12 members from VNU-UET, the VNU Information TechnologyInstitute, the Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) andOxford University.
The genome of a human beingcontains all of the genetic information that determines their biologicaldevelopment and characteristics. Once the genome of an individual issequenced and analysed, scientists can reveal information about thedevelopment process of that individual and forecast diseases from whichthey are at risk of suffering. The genomes of two separate individualsare virtually the same with only 0.1 percent difference.
Usingspecialised equipment and with thorough analysis, scientists can draw amap of the human genome like drawing a map of highways. By following andadding important information to each “route”, scientists can determinewhich genes are responsible for protein metabolism, which genes causecertain diseases and genetic differences that make one person differentfrom another.
Individuals of the same ethnicity usuallybear the common biological characteristics of that group. If the genomesof many individuals are sequenced, we can have a clearer picture of thebiological development and characteristics of an ethnicity as well astheir history of development and migration. Beyond that, it helpscomplete the migration routes of human races on the globalanthropological map.
Dr Vinh said on that map, Vietnam remains amysterious black spot. During their research, his team also paid closeattention to how migration relates to the Vietnamese people.
Accordingto Dr Vinh, they have achieved some early results and will continue theendeavour to decode much more information.
Adding Vietnam to the list of 20 countries successfully sequencing thehuman genome of their peoples is a scientific breakthrough. In the nearfuture, there will be an application that can detect more than 3,000genetic disorders in order to develop early prevention and treatmentplans. The effect of the project will spread beyond the laboratory.
In an interview with the newspaper, Dr Vinh shared his vision about practical applications for this project in the future.
Hesaid costs aside, the first issue facing them is developing a fullprocess in order to build and analyse the genome of an individual, fromcollecting and analysing data, to finding out and understanding newknowledge. This is a big and complicated mathematical problem with manydifferent stages, requiring a broad knowledge in multiple disciplinesfrom molecular biology to information technology, especially big dataprocessing. Thus developing a complete process that is appropriate toVietnam’s conditions is the most difficult problem.
Regarding computing capabilities, HUST and VNU-UET have largecomputing systems but they are not dedicated to processing large mathsproblems such as building and analysing the human genome, said Dr Vinh,adding that they have to design an appropriate computing process thatcan run on existing systems.
The whole processfrom the beginning to the announcement of the successful sequencing in2013 lasted about three years. At the end of 2013, the team received rawdata on the genome of a Vietnamese individual. The data contained morethan 108 billion nucleotides containing the genetic information of thatindividual.
On that basis, the research team began building andanalysing the genome of this individual using modern and highly accuratetechnology and computing methods on VNU-UET and HUST’s computingsystems.
The research group used bioinformaticsmethods and tools to build the genome from raw data collected, andanalyse the genome to work out and understand the differences comparedwith the standard human genome data as well as the genomes of otherraces. The result is that the genome sequenced by the team containedmore than three million single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) comparedwith the human reference genome. Many new SNPs are only found in theVietnamese human genome. Analytical data also found some other newstructural polymorphisms.
The process to build and analyse thehuman genome brings many benefits to other fields, notably medicine,pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and anthropology. More importantly,genetic analysis and research will help doctors deviseindividually-oriented prevention and treatment strategies.
There are many diseases caused by gene mutations and these studieswill act as the precursor to find harmful changes, thereby discoveringdiseases that a person could suffer from, and working out preventive andtherapeutic measures tailored to that individual.
Dr Vinh affirmed in the future the team will work with medical scientists and large hospitals to provide this service.-VNA
