Deciphering the complete genetic sequence of chromosome 22 by a trans-national research group is like opening the first page of the book of life, said Chinese scientists.

"It is the first time for human beings to 'read' a chromosome with complete gene sequence,' said Zhang Meng, director of the Human Genome Research Center of the Institute of Genetics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He said that scientists from six countries including the United States, Japan, Germany and China are joining forces to decipher 100,000 human genes within 15 years.

"It is like composing a 'dictionary', which can explain the function of each kind of gene in the human body," said Zhang, adding that the key to the whole project is the sequencing of DNA.

"The successful deciphering of the first chromosome has given scientists more confidence in decoding other chromosomes, " he added.

Chromosome 22 is the second smallest among 23 human chromosomes, but its deciphering means a lot to scientists all over the world who are participating in the human genome research project, said Shen Yan, a research fellow from the Beijing Human Genome Research Center.

He said that the research finding, which was made by a research group with 216 scientists from the United States, Britain, Japan and other countries, also indicates a general trend of trans- national cooperation between scientists, especially for huge research projects such as the human genome project.

"The finding will also help scientists observe causes for some genetic diseases, because chromosome 22 contains some disease- related genes," said Wu Xiyan, a researcher at the Shanghai Human Genome Research Center.

Inspired by the success of scientists from other countries, Chinese scientists are making harder efforts to accomplish one percent of the gene sequencing, from the international human gene project. (Xinhua)