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EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 1999 6:00 PM CST
Medical College of Wisconsin Researchers Produce Advanced Map of Rat Genes: Potential Application for Treating Human Diseases
Medical College of Wisconsin researchers led by Howard J. Jacob, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology, have developed a new set of genetic tools that are a direct off shoot of the human genome project. The tools in the form of a "genetic map" will help scientists find just where on the genetic material a gene involved in a certain disease is located; someday it may be possible to use that information to develop drugs to treat the disease.
The study, published in the may issue of Genome Research, was supported by two grants from the National Institutes of Health. The three-and-a-half year project was a collaborative effort with Dr. Jacob, Anne Kwitek-Black, Ph.D., and Peter J. Tonellato, Ph.D., assistant professors of physiology from the Medical College; Eric Lander, Ph.D., of the Whitehead Institute, Cambridge, Mass; Steve Colman, Ph.D., of CuraGen Research, Inc. New Haven, Conn; and 28 other investigators from around the world.
"The tools were developed for the rat, which is significant because these animals are used to develop new drugs and to better understand human disease," says Dr. Jacob.
The tools basically enable investigators to locate genes within chromosomes and then identify disease-causing genes. These tools allow the development of a "genetic map" used to link genes to various biological functions and diseases. Dr. Jacob and colleagues have developed very dense maps of the rat chromosomes, far superior to anything available in the past.
Rats have been used in animal research for many years since their genetic structure is 90 percent similar to humans. They have been used for research on diabetes, eye disorders, blood disorders, hypertension, kidney failure and other diseases.
At the Medical College, as part of the human genome project, researchers are trying to link high blood pressure and other common diseases to a particular region on the rat's chromosome. To do that scientists need a "genetic map." On the map are landmarks, called genetic markers, which act like road signs.
"As a road map allows you to navigate within a city, so a genetic map allows you to navigate the nearly three billion sub units contained within the rat genome, which is the entire complement of genetic material," Dr. Jacob points out.
Some of these genetic markers have been located before. But the map was sketchy; it had the main roads, but not the side roads. Medical College researchers have found many more roads, a total of 4,740 genetic markers for a much more complete map.
"However, while the genetic map is useful," explains Dr. Jacob, "It only gets you to the general area. It does not get you to the individual cause of the disease, typically a gene."
The researchers developed another tool called a radiation hybrid map to add more detail. By merging the two maps, the scientist have basically built a detailed atlas of the rat's genetic material and increased their ability to translate the maps between rat and human. Doctors and scientists may use that knowledge in the future to find the pathways diseases take and identify the genes that in turn may become targets for new drugs
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