Genome variation study near completion

LONDON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Researchers in a worldwide project to record differences in human DNA say they've mapped 95 percent of all variations, a British scientist reports.

The 1000 Genomes Project is a public-private project to chart not one individual's genetic makeup but thousands of genomes in an effort to understand genetic variations may make some people more susceptible to inherited disease or other genetic conditions, the BBC reported Wednesday.

Coming a decade after the draft human genome was first published, the new project has only been made possible by improved technologies, a U.K. researcher says.

"In the last 10 years DNA sequencing technology has advanced dramatically, so it's become feasible to systematically sequence many people to find genetic variants and build a catalog which we can use as a basis for investigations into disease," Richard Durbin of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute says.

A person's genome consists about 3 billion "base pairs" of DNA in 23 pairs of chromosomes in every cell in the human body. A small portion of these base pairs, about 3 million, vary from person to person, and it's these variations scientists are trying to identify.

"Already, just in the pilot stage, we've identified over 15 million genetic differences by looking at 179 people," Durbin says. "Over half those differences have never been seen before and these have already provided a more complete catalogue of variation than was available previously."