Literature and patent analysis of the cloning and identification of human functional genes in China

• Published in: Science China. Life sciences 2012-03, Vol.55 (3), p.268-282
• Main Authors: Xia, Yan, Tang, LiSha, Yao, Lei, Wan, Bo, Yang, XianMei, Yu, Long
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; China; Cloning, Molecular - methods; Data processing; Databases, Factual; Databases, Genetic; Female; GenBank数据库; Genetics - trends; Genome, Human; genomics; Genomics - methods; Human Genome Project; Humans; intellectual property; Life Sciences; Male; Models, Genetic; Patents as Topic; Research Paper; Sequence Analysis, DNA; 专利分析; 中国科学家; 人类基因组计划; 克隆; 功能基因组学; 国家知识产权局; 鉴定
• ISSN: 1674-7305; 1869-1889
• DOI: 10.1007/s11427-012-4299-6

The Human Genome Project was launched at the end of the 1980s. Since then, the cloning and identification of functional genes has been a major focus of research across the world. In China too, the potentially profound impact of such studies on the life sciences and on human health was realized, and relevant studies were initiated in the 1990s. To advance China＇s involve- ment in the Human Genome Project, in the mid-1990s, Committee of Experts in Biology from National High Technology Re- search and Development Program of China （863 Program） proposed the ＂two 1%＂ goal. This goal envisaged China contrib- uting 1% of the total sequencing work, and cloning and identifying 1% of the total human functional genes. Over the past 20 years, tremendous achievement has been accomplished by Chinese scientists. It is well known that scientists in China finished the 1% of sequencing work of the Human Genome Project, whereas, there is no comprehensive report about ＂whether China had finished cloning and identifying 1% of human functional genes＂. In the present study, the GenBank database at the Na- tional Center of Biotechnology Information, the PubMed search tool, and the patent database of the State Intellectual Property Office, China, were used to retrieve entries based on two screening standards： （i） Were the newly cloned and identified genes first reported by Chinese scientists？ （ii） Were the Chinese scientists awarded the gene sequence patent？ Entries were retrieved from the databases up to the cut-off date of 30 June 2011 and the obtained data were analyzed further. The results showed that 589 new human functional genes were first reported by Chinese scientists and 159 gene sequences were patented （http：//gene.fudan.sh.cn/introduction/database/chinagene/chinagene.html）. This study systematically summarizes China＇s con- tributions to human functional genomics research and answers the question ＂has China finished cloning and identifying 1% of human functional genes？＂ in the affirmative.