Tokyo

A workshop planned for next month on the genetics and neurology of apes could pave the way to a better understanding of the relationship between the human genome and the brain, its organizers say.

The Genes and Minds Initiative (GEMINI) workshop will try to improve coordination of existing ape-genome sequencing efforts and of related research in neurological gene expression and gene-based evolutionary study of apes. It could also serve as a springboard for a major international effort in the sequencing of ape genomes.

The meeting is being jointly organized by the National Institute of Genetics (NIG) and the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) in Japan, and will take place in Tokyo. “The aim is to provide a place to discuss possible international and interdisciplinary cooperation on understanding what makes us human,” says Yoshiyuki Sakaki of RIKEN's Genomic Sciences Center.

Close relative: as ape genomes are similar to our own, comparative analysis could pay dividends. Credit: MAKOTO SHIMADA

The ape genome is thought to be around 99% equivalent to the human genome. “By examining the subtle genetic differences relating to the nervous system and brain function, it will be possible to shed light on language, the ageing process, and on sensitivity to disease,” says Hans Lehrach of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin. For example, researchers might be able to establish what makes apes resistant to Alzheimer's disease and AIDS.

Sakaki and Lehrach hope to use the experience they gained sequencing chromosomes 21 and 22 for the human genome project in assembling ape genomes. Because of the great similarity, Lehrach thinks that they will be able to assemble many of the corresponding ape DNA fragments right on top of the human sequence. “This could reduce sequencing needs and make it a very cheap project, perhaps costing less than US $100 million,” says Lehrach.

Last year, RIKEN announced a project to compare chimpanzee and human genomic sequences, but commitment to the human genome and lack of funding have held back its progress (see Nature 406, 4; 2000). Now the NIG is involved, details of the plan are being firmed up — although funding is still elusive.

RIKEN's Brain Science Institute will provide the project with candidate genes, such as those related to language and brain development, from human brain research projects. These will be used to correlate genes to their function in the brain, using microarrays.

RIKEN's Genomic Sciences Center is expected to handle sequencing and initial analysis, starting with the chimpanzee equivalent of chromosome 21 and other genes suggested by the Brain Science Institute. The NIG will run a comparative study of chimpanzees, orang-utans, macaques and gorillas in an attempt to determine the way in which the various different species have evolved.

So far money for the project has not been forthcoming, with each group using funds from some of their other projects to allow the to do the planning. But Naruya Saito, a geneticist at the NIG, hopes that Japan is poised to take the leading role in an international ape sequencing project. He sees it as an opportunity for Japan to “show the world its sequencing capacity”.

The project is also notable because it marks the first collaboration between two of Japan's premier research institutes under the auspices of the newly formed Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (see Nature 408, 757; 2000). In the past, rivalry between the various agencies has made such a collaboration difficult. Gemini — the astrological sign of the twins — could therefore represent not only the relationship of genes and the mind, says Saito, but also a new match-up between the NIG and RIKEN.

→ http://sayer.lab.nig.ac.jp/GEMINI