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Human Genome Project Information Archive
1990–2003

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Human Genome News Archive Edition
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Vol.11, No. 3-4   July 2001

ANL's Advanced Photon Source Illuminates Ribosomal Activities

Using the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to gain a detailed picture of ribosomal function, a team from the U.K. Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) has developed insights into how ribosomes manufacture proteins from amino acids to the exact specification of genes on DNA. Led by LMB head Venki Ramakrishnan, the team published its work in Science on May 4 [J. M. Ogle et al., Science 292(5518), 897-902].

Such information aids in understanding not only how antibiotics work but also the basis of certain kinds of resistance. If an antibiotic could induce a ribosome to make a "mistake" and add the wrong amino acid onto the protein chain, for example, such incorrectly made proteins would not function. If this happened in bacteria during development, they would be rendered ineffective. Ramakrishnan stated that pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies are keenly interested in such studies because of their potential usefulness in the design of new antibiotics that can overcome the growing problem of resistance.


The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v11n3-4).

Human Genome Project 1990–2003

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international 13-year effort, 1990 to 2003. Primary goals were to discover the complete set of human genes and make them accessible for further biological study, and determine the complete sequence of DNA bases in the human genome. See Timeline for more HGP history.

Human Genome News

Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.