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Human Genome News, Nov. 1994; 6(4):6

Los Alamos National Laboratory

LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY (LANL)

  • (DOE, established 1988)
  • ROBERT K. MOYZIS, Director
  • Larry L. Deaven, Deputy Director
  • CONTACT: Lynn Clark, Technical Coordinator (505/667-9376, Fax: -2891; clark@telomere.lanl.gov); LANL; Center for Human Genome Studies, MS M886; Los Alamos, NM 87545.

OTHER KEY RESEARCHERS

  • Michael Altherr
  • Norman Doggett
  • Joe Gatewood
  • Deborah Grady
  • Jim Jett
  • Dick Keller
  • Jon Longmire
  • Pat Medvick
  • Julie Meyne
  • Rob Pecherer
  • David Torney
  • Michael Yesley

MAJOR GOALS

  • Assembly of complete, high-resolution (<10 kb), sequence-ready chromosome 16 map; low-resolution (0.5 Mb) map of chromosome 5; and high-resolution, sequence-ready map of Cri du Chat region on chromosome arm 5p.
  • Determination of molecular basis of chromosome structure and function and isolation of selected disease genes on chromosomes 5 and 16.
  • Short-term development and support for large-scale physical mapping and sequencing projects and long-term development of tools for storage, manipulation, and analysis of genome data.
  • Development and application of new methods for physical mapping and sequencing; use of robotics in handling and storing DNA fragments; construction of DNA libraries from flow-sorted chromosomes; and rapid, inexpensive, large-scale sequencing.
  • Studies of ethical, legal, and social issues arising from the increased availability of genome data.
  • Transfer of technologies and medically important information to industry and the medical community.
  • Establishment of Internet access via WWW and Mosaic to physical mapping data.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

  • Construction of integrated chromosome 16 physical-genetic-cytogenetic map, including:
    • low-resolution yeast artificial chromosome contig map providing nearly complete coverage of euchromatin; map consists of 350 sequence tagged sites, 600 Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain mega-yeast artificial chromosomes and 220 flow-sorted chromosome 16-specific yeast artificial chromosomes that are localized to and ordered within a somatic cell hybrid breakpoint map (1-Mb average resolution); and
    • a high-resolution, sequence-ready, fingerprinted cosmid contig map covering 60% of chromosome 16 and anchored to yeast artificial chromosome and breakpoint maps via sequence tagged sites developed from cosmid contigs and by hybridizations between yeast artificial chromosomes and cosmids.
  • Construction of human chromosome 5 framework sequence tagged site map consisting of 306 markers; of these, 60 were assigned regionally on the p arm at a 1-Mb resolution [Joan Overhauser (Thomas Jefferson University)], and 100 were assigned regionally on the q arm at a 1.5-Mb resolution [John Wasmuth (UC Irvine)].
  • Biological developments, including (1) identification and cloning of the human telomere; (2) determination of unusual 3-D structure of telomeric DNA [with Alex Rich (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)]; (3) identification and cloning of highly conserved centromeric repetitive DNA regions, likely human centromere Components; and (4) fluorescence in situ hybridization technique enabling physical orientation of probes.
  • Development of technology, including (1) National Laboratory Gene Library Project (with LLNL) chromosome-specific libraries: over 2600 DNA libraries sent to research and production laboratories worldwide, including complete digest libraries for each human chromosome; partial-digest phage and cosmid libraries for human chromosomes 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, X, and Y; and complete digest low-chimeric yeast artificial chromosome libraries for human chromosomes 5, 9, 16, and 21; (2) flow-cytometry techniques for DNA fragment sizing and detecting single DNA molecules, resulting in a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with Life Technologies, Inc. for codevelopment of rapid DNA-sequencing technology; (3) robot for high-density cosmid-yeast artificial chromosome array replication and distribution; and (4) parallel primer walking directly off cosmid contig clones.

AVAILABLE RESOURCES

  • Phage and cosmid libraries developed within National Laboratory Gene Library Project (see accomplishments).
  • Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain Mark II to VII yeast artificial chromosome libraries.
  • Sequence tagged site collections for chromosomes 16 (320) and 5 (306).
  • SIGMA, a graphical map editor.
  • cDNA Inform database and software for comparison of sequences.
  • Modified Biomek robot and LANL robot for high-density array construction.
  • Graduate and postdoctoral research training through LANL and DOE Human Genome Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship (LANL: -5919; Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education: 615/576-9975).
  • URL: http://www-ls.lanl.gov

HGMIS staff

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The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v6n4).

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.