Counterfeit chromosomes for humans
Roush, W.
Science 276(5309): 38-39
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 9122708 Document Number: 475339
In this month's Nature Genetics, researchers at Cleveland's Case Western Reserve University and Athersys Inc., under senior author Huntington Willard, report constructing the first human artificial chromosomes (HACs). The HACs are entirely synthetic, self-replicating, human "microchromosomes," which are one-fifth to one-tenth the size of normal human chromosomes. According to David Schlessinger, a genome researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, the researchers have created a system where they can now do a great deal to analyze human chromosome function. For example, custom-made HACs could reveal how each gene's chromosomal packaging affects its activity. Before the HACs can be used to uncover more about how real chromosomes work, however, an efficient way has to be found of transplanting microchromosomes' self-assembling components into new cells.