WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have unraveled the genetic code of human chromosome 5, finding a wealth of information about disease and human evolution.
The chromosome contains 180.9 million genetic letters and is the largest of the 12 chromosomes completed so far. Human genes are laid out on 46 chromosomes.
The sequence of the chromosome, published in Thursday's edition of the journal Nature, will aid in efforts to understand human disease, said Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. The chromosome was sequenced by a collaborative effort of the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and the Stanford Human Genome Center.
Of the 923 genes found on chromosome 5, some 66 are involved in human disease and five code for molecules that are involved in immune signaling and asthma. An additional 14 diseases seem to be linked to chromosome 5, but it is not clear which specific genes might be involved.
The human chromosome 5 is more than 99 percent similar to that of chimpanzees, but there is one large section that appears to be flipped backward between the two species.
Approximately one-third of the human chromosome 5 is similar to a chicken chromosome that determines the bird's sex.
