Scientists propose to decipher human proteome in 10 years

According to Xinhua news agency, London, April 28 (reporter Ge Qiufang), some scientists are working on a large-scale project to decipher human proteome, aiming to spend about 10 years classifying all proteins in the human body and depicting their characteristics According to a new issue of the British journal Nature, the project was initiated by John Bergeron, a former member of the Human Proteome Organization, to reveal which proteins exist in various tissues of the human body, where they are in cells and which proteins interact with each other However, the report also pointed out that the planned project is expected to cost US $1 billion, and whether it can obtain sufficient support and ultimately raise the required funds is unknown Because some new studies show that the number of genes encoding human proteins may be much smaller than previously estimated, Bergeron and others believe that a large-scale human proteome program can now be implemented According to the assumption of Bergeron and others, this project will be carried out in three experimental ways: first, to identify proteins and their quantity in tissue samples by mass spectrometry; second, to produce antibodies against each protein and use these antibodies to determine the location of proteins in tissues and cells; third, to systematically determine which proteins interact with each other According to Bergeron, specific work can be shared among laboratories around the world He said that the first step is to collect the existing mass spectrometry proteome data, which is estimated to take six months; then a small-scale demonstration test will be carried out in one to three years to analyze all the proteins produced by the smallest chromosome 21 in human chromosome more comprehensively; finally, the complete interpretation of human proteome, which may take 10 years.