Initial genome draft shows less genes than expected

Researchers from both organisations working to map the human genome have published the initial draft of the sequence. The first draft, published by the publicly funded organisations the Human Genome project in the journal Nature and by private company Celera in the publication Science, details some 31bn letters of DNA.

The teams say they have discovered that human DNA comprises 30–40,000 genes, much less than the original estimate of 60–100,000. For the pharmaceutical industry, much of the work to be done in unravelling the gene sequences remains.

It is likely to take many years to decipher and convert it into data that may be used in developing drug applications.