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Human Genome News, September 1991; 3(3)
The Human Genome Organization (HUGO) and the Soviet Union have agreed on a Moscow HUGO office as a satellite of the London-based regional office, HUGO Europe. This accord grew out of June meetings in Moscow among representatives of HUGO and three Soviet organizations: Academy of Sciences, State Committee for Science and Technology, and Council of the Human Genome Program.
The Moscow HUGO office, which officially came into existence on July 1, will encourage Soviet genome scientists to become integrated more fully into the global Human Genome Project. As the project's international coordinating body, HUGO will both facilitate and be implemented by the development of communication links, the exchange of scientists, the improved flow of genome-related information, and the spread of new technologies between the Soviet Union and other countries.
The Soviet Union has a substantial human genome program involving 60 different research centers, 100 laboratories, and 1000 scientists. Public opinion is described by some of the scientists involved as "very positive." The program received generous government support during its initial 3-year period with total funding of nearly 90 million rubles, including 32 million rubles for the current year. This year also marks the beginning of a shift from basic funding of Academy of Science institutes to support through grants.
During discussions in Moscow, Academician Nikolay Laverov (Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Soviet State Committee for Science and Technology) expressed his government's wholehearted support for the establishment of the HUGO office. He promised to work through the Soviet/ American Cooperation Committee to establish satellite links for data exchange and to overcome problems relating to importing computer hardware into the Soviet Union.
Reported by Liz Evans, HUGO Europe
The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v3n3).
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.
Published from 1989 until 2002, this newsletter facilitated HGP communication, helped prevent duplication of research effort, and informed persons interested in genome research.
