Chinese Scientists Sequence Genome of Pathogenic MicrobesChinese scientists published the genetic codes of three important human and plant pathogenic microbes on the international public data bank in Shanghai on Monday, marking a new step in China's genetic decoding project and biological information research.Huang Wei, a leading Chinese genetic expert, said that the successful sequencing of the three microbes, namely, the leptospira, the staphylococcus epidermis and the xanthomonas campestris, may lay a solid foundation for relevant medicinal breakthroughs. Experts from the South Research Center of the National Human Genome Project said that the new step is critical to applying genetic research results to better serve human beings. Leptospirosis has been plaguing China for years but there is no effective vaccine to curb the disease. Scientists from Shanghai, Beijing and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region decoded some 4,700 important genes of leptospira during this newly released result. Staphylococcus epidermis may cause blood poisoning. The complete sequence of this virus has been obtained after strenuous efforts of scientists. Scientists confirmed that the sequence of Xanthomonas campestris was the fourth completely decoded plant genome in the world. The result is expected to pave ways for preventing vegetable diseases in an environmentally safe way. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |