China launches plan for healthier, longer lives: gene sequence 1% of world’s population

September 20, 2024

A group of Chinese researchers has launched an international plan to increase the number of healthy years in people’s lives by proposing a new phase of the pioneering Human Genome Project to gain a deeper understanding of the human genome.

Building on the landmark achievements that generated the first human genome sequence two decades ago, the researchers have proposed to sequence the genomes of more than 1 per cent of the world’s population – 80 million people from more than 100 countries.

The data and findings would be used to extend the average health span of people by improving medical practices such as screening tests for genetic diseases and rare disease diagnoses, as well as contribute to the development of the evolving field of precision public health, according to their initial goals.The concept refers to “using advanced technologies, data analytics and interventions to prevent disease, promote health and improve healthcare delivery at the population level”, according to the Human Genome Project II (HGP2) proposal, which was published in an editorial article in the journal Cell Research on September 11.

The researchers are from institutes in 15 countries: Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, France, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, Turkey, the United States and Vietnam.“HGP2 certainly will not stop at 1 per cent of the world population; however, in achieving the goals set for the first 1 per cent, we believe that HGP2 will have initiated a permanent paradigm shift toward precision public health globally,” the team said in the article.

“This will open the gates for the rest of humanity to use their genome to lead healthier and longer lives, fulfilling the vision of the HGP. The Human Genome Project was started in 1990 under the leadership of American physician-geneticist Francis Collins, with funding from the US Department of Energy and the US National Institutes of Health.

“This international effort to sequence the 3 billion DNA letters in the human genome is considered by many to be one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings of all time, even compared to splitting the atom or going to the moon,” the NIH’s website says about the achievement of HGP , which was completed in 2003. The endeavour was joined by scientists from institutes in Britain, China, France, Germany and Japan, as well as American institutes outside the NIH. They became known as the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium.

In China, BGI Group was founded in 1999 as a research organisation to support the HGP. Five scientists from BGI Group, now headquartered in Shenzhen, along with two researchers from Fudan and Peking University, are part of the 21-member international team behind the proposal, which was initiated by the Chinese scientists. The researchers said the aim was to have the project become a “global research alliance” supporting international collaboration.

“Redundant effort must be avoided, when possible, to provide maximal support for existing scientific initiatives; this research alliance will foster “team science”, not competition,” they said.“We hope that this proposition inspires exemplary national initiatives to soon organise and collaborate around HGP2’s principles,” they added.

Most funding for the project “will come from existing and future national initiative budgets”, and they will work with the World Health Organization and the United Nations for funding support, the researchers said.It will also organise a World Bank-like international funding initiative for low- and middle-income countries taking part in the project so that “all may bring the scale and representation needed” for the global effort, according to the proposal.

“As genome sequencing costs start falling below US$100, personal genomes are fast becoming widely affordable,” they said. According to a 2011 report by Battelle, an American applied science and technology non-profit, the US government investment of US$3.8 billion in the HGP drove US$796 billion in US economic output, and US$244 billion in personal income for Americans while creating 310,000 jobs.

In 2010 alone, the genomics‐enabled industry generated enough federal and state taxes to cover the total government investment, while noting the huge potential impacts of human genome sequencing in medicine, agriculture, energy and the environment, Battelle reported “The HGP is arguably the single most influential investment to have been made in modern science and a foundation for progress in the biological sciences moving forward,” the report said.