In this issue... 

1997 Santa Fe Highlights 
Patrinos Address 
Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Comes of Age 
JGI Sequencing 
JGI Informatics 
JGI and Bermuda Quality Sequence 
Grants Awarded for JGI Collaboration 
JGI Sequencing Clones 
Sequencing Strategies,Tools 
Gene-Discovery Resources 
Sequencing at NIH NHGRI 
Functional Genomics 
Data Surge Challenges Informaticists 
Genome Annotation: Informatics Advances Needed for Age of Functional Genomics 
ELSI: Rapid Progress Accelerates Societal Impact of Genome Research 
1999 DOE HGP Meeting Set for California 

Human Genome Project Administration 
New 5-Year Goals, Project Midpoint 
DOE, NIH Discuss Informatics 
JASON Group Review 
BER Genome Instrumentation Research 

In the News 
Private-Sector Sequencing Plan 
Bang for the Buck: Government-Backed Research Underpins Potentially High Payoff Ventures 
Palmisano Joins DOE OBER 
DNA Files series to be on NPR 
HUGO Addresses Sample Collection 
Sickle Cell Mice May Lead to New Treatments 
TIGR Sequencing 6 More Microbes 
Tuberculosis Microbe Sequenced 
C. Elegans Sequencing Nears Finish 
HGMIS Website Restructured 
cDNA Cloning Workshop Identifies Critical Issues 
Survey Identifies Growing Need for Synchrotron Analyses 
NCGR Announcements 

Publications 
Report on Functional Consequences of Gene Expression 
Book on Tuskegee Conference 
Book Focuses on Biomarker Implications, Conference Proceedings 
Genome Analysis Protocol Handbook 

Software and the Internet 
Mouse Genome Informatics Release 2.0 
New System Identifies Polymorphisms 
DOE Supports Web Site for 1997 AAAS Genome Symposium 
Expressed Human Genome Database 

Funding 
DOE ELSI 
NIH NHGRI 
NHGRI Initiates Mailing List 
U.S. Genome Research Funding 

Meeting Calendars & Acronyms 
Genome and Biotechnology Meetings 
Training Courses and Workshops 
Acronyms 

HGN archives and subscriptions   
HGP Information home 

C. Elegans Sequencing Project Nears Finish

At the 1997 Santa Fe meeting, NIH-funded researcher Stephanie Chissoe [Washington University, St. Louis (WUSTL)] provided an overview of the final, closure phases of the project to sequence the 100-Mb genome of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. Working in equal collaboration with the Sanger Center (Hinxton, U.K.), researchers expect completion by the end of this year, making another major achievement in the Human Genome Project.

A clone-based sequence-ready map provided the majority of sequencing substrates, including cosmids and YACs. Analysis and annotation of the finished sequence include identification of potential exons by similarity to EST data and known protein sequences and by gene-prediction programs. Before submission to GenBank, the generated data sets are read into the ACeDB database and reconciled manually with each other and with ancillary C. elegans map data. Thus far the teams have identified 13,747 annotated genes in 71.4 MB of annotated sequence from the February 1998 ACeDB release. Some 30% match a C. elegans EST, and 55% have some similarity. About half of C. elegans genes lack significant database hits that are likely to provide clues to function, Chissoe noted, so WUSTL investigators are generating C. briggsae comparative sequencing data.

The electronic form of the newsletter may be cited in the following style:
Human Genome Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Human Genome News (v9n3).