从口腔壁商刮下细胞可以提取出遗传物质
科学家在非洲进行人类学研究
科学家正在进行DNA分析
DNA study of human migration National Geographic and IBM investigate spread of prehistoric peoples around world
Benjamin Pimentel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
With a swab of cheek tissue and $100, you may be able to help scientists figure out how humans spread out across the earth.
IBM Corp. and the National Geographic Society will announce a project today to collect at least 100,000 DNA samples from people all over the globe to trace the routes of human migration.
The five-year project intends to create "the largest and most comprehensive public database of anthropological genetic information," the two groups said. It also is expected to boost Big Blue's profile in the multibillion-dollar life sciences technology market.
But some scientists say the project could reignite questions on the use of technology in studying human history, race and genetics.
Scientists have long tried to use genetic analysis and computer technology to probe the history of humankind and to determine how specific populations and communities emerged. But some critics have raised questions about ethical and cultural issues surrounding the collection of data from specific indigenous groups. Others point to privacy concerns surrounding the collection of DNA.
Despite those concerns, the IBM effort, dubbed the Genographic Project, could create the largest DNA record of humankind. Its findings, for instance, could help explain some of humans' epic migrations, such as the theory that people from Africa left the continent and followed the coasts of Arabia, India and Southeast Asia to Australia more than 50,000 years ago.
In an unusual move, scientists are allowing anyone to join the study by buying a "Participation Kit." Participants will use a plastic stick to scrape mucous membrane cells from the inside of a cheek and mail the tissue to National Geographic. The kit costs $99.95 plus shipping and handling.
"What we're trying to do is use genetics as a tool to infer details about our species, the human journey," said population geneticist Spencer Wells, who serves as National Geographic's explorer-in-residence. "Obviously, there's a huge amount of data that will be generated in the course of this project."
The project aims to "fill in the gaps in our knowledge of human history," Wells added in a statement. It will be spearheaded by 10 scientists from different research institutions such as the Laboratory of Human Population Genetics in Moscow, the Center for Excellence in Genomic Sciences in India and the Center for Genome Information at the University of Cincinnati.
In addition to IBM and National Geographic, the project is being financed by the Waitt Family Foundation, a charitable organization based in La Jolla (San Diego County). The scientists involved will collect DNA samples from different indigenous populations and transmit the data to National Geographic, which will use an IBM computer system to analyze the information.
Proceeds from the individual, $100 participation fees will help finance future research.
IBM and National Geographic also plan to put up an online museum with extensive information on human history, genetics, migration and history.
For Big Blue, the project is intended to raise the company's profile as a provider of technology to research institutions, both academic and governmental. Life Sciences is projected to grow into a $34 billion market by 2007, said IBM spokesman Jay Cadmus, citing industry figures.
IBM biologist Ajay Royyuru, senior manager of the company's Computational Biology Center, said, "We see this project as a fairly unique opportunity for us to apply technology on a very large scale. Projects like this don't come along very often."
The IBM-National Geographic project follows an earlier effort to collect genetic materials to study the history and patterns of human diversity.
Called the Human Genome Diversity Project, the international effort was financed by private foundations and government agencies. One of the project's leaders, Luca Cavalli-Sforza of Stanford University, also serves on the advisory board of the IBM-National Geographic project.
The earlier project, which was conducted in the early 1990s, collected 1, 064 genetic samples from 52 populations around the world. The data are housed at the Center for the Study of Polymorphism in Paris and have been used by nonprofit research laboratories.
Marc Feldman, a professor of biological sciences at Stanford University who was involved in the Human Genome Diversity Project, said the IBM-National Geographic partnership could give scientists "a better picture of the routes that migration took.
"We might be able to get a better estimate of the time at which migrations happened," he added.
Esteban Gonzalez Burchard, an assistant professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, also praised the involvement of IBM in the effort.
"I'm glad that private industry and a reputable agency like National Geographic have the motivation to take this one," said Burchard, who is also co-director of UCSF's DNA Banking Facility.
"What has been lacking in the genetics field is the full-scale analysis of the entire world," he added.
But Feldman said the IBM project must make clear how samples would be collected and how the information from the project would be used.
He cited the controversy that surrounded the Human Genome Diversity Project after some groups questioned its motives.
Some critics were worried that the DNA samples would be used for commercial purposes, while some populations, such as tribal groups in the United States and Australia, cited religious and cultural reasons in refusing to participate.
"Many American tribes indicated that they have no interest in providing information about their history because they know already," Feldman said. "They don't need biologists and anthropologists to tell them the history of their populations. ... A number of indigenous groups felt they would be exploited again."
Feldman said he was also worried about having individuals submit samples on their own. "I think that's a bad idea," he said, citing the need for scientific precision in obtaining samples.
Burchard of UCSF also questioned the use of data from people who pay to take part in the project. "You think some poor Indian in Guatemala is going to pay a hundred bucks to participate?" he asked.
Feldman echoed this point. "How do you get people in Central Asia and Central Africa to participate? You are going to have a biased view of the world."
IBM said having individuals submit samples on their own was only a component of the project and was aimed at boosting public awareness of the research effort.
The research team plans to work with different populations to persuade them to participate, Royyuru said. But unlike the Human Genome Diversity Project, the IBM-National Geographic research is focused on migration, not race.
"This is not an exercise in classifying people as this or that," he said. "This is an exercise in understanding your ancestors' history. It is the journey, really."
On the reliability of samples submitted by individuals, Royyuru said there was nothing complicated about using the stick in the kit to take a sample and then mailing it in.
"It's like brushing your teeth," he said.
But he conceded that some participants might submit material that might not be reliable, citing the experience of a private DNA analysis firm that is taking part in the project.
The Arizona firm had received a sample that seemed unusual. But the scientists easily solved the puzzle, Royyuru said.
"Someone had swabbed their dog," he said.
E-mail Benjamin Pimentel at bpimentel@sfchronicle.com
昨日获悉，美国国家地理协会和IBM联手，一起启动了一个历时5年的寻找现代人类迁移之旅探索活动，人类究竟起源何处的答案也许不久将浮出水面。来自美国、中国、巴西、南非、英国、法国、俄罗斯、黎巴嫩、印度和澳大利亚的人类遗传学家参与这次活动。
这个由私人赞助的“寻找人类起源计划”计划旨在收集世界各地大约10万个人的基因样本，描制人类迁徙的路线图。科学家还计划采集世界各地共10点的1万名原住居民的血样，因为这些原住居民的DNA中包含着遗传的关键信息。
在调查现场，科学队将卖给那些当对自己基因好奇的当地人一套价值99美元的基因检测设备，而所得的这些钱将被用于这个计划的进一步进行。获得基因检测设备的人将通过互联网获得一个匿名的身份号，然后注册自己检测出来的相关信息，从而获得自己究竟与世界上那个地方的人拥有共同的基因源，理解自己家族进化的历程。比如，某个美国人可能与西班牙某一地方的人享有同样的遗传变种。
“我们都曾属于同一个祖先，仅仅是随着时间的流逝而被分离开来。”领导该计划的人类基因学家斯宾赛-威尔说。该研究科学家希望通过他们的努力能够揭示人类的起源这个看似简单的问题，以及人类迁移的路线，从而更好地理解人种多样化的原因。
链接：人类起源说
关于人类起源一直以来存在很大的争议。达尔文曾在1871年出版的一本专著中推测，非洲是人类的摇篮。此前在1863年，则有人主张人类起源于南亚。后者不久得到了印证：1890年，印尼发现了一具头盖骨，“爪哇直立猿人”使人类起源南亚说为之一振。1927年，中国发现“北京人”化石，使中亚起源说更加风靡一时。但也就从这时起，在南非，在东非，有不下20个地点发现了最早阶段的人类化石，尤其是1974年，在东非大裂谷所在的埃塞俄比亚，发现了一具保存40%遗骸的“露西少女”猿人骨架，距今超300万年；加上非洲出土的大量早期人化石，构成了一个相当完整的演化体系。于是，全球人类“走出非洲”的学说一时勃兴。
SFGate.com4月13日报道，只要一块颊部细胞膜的试样和100美金，你就有可能帮助科学家们断定史前人类在地球上的分布情况。
IBM和美国国家地理协会宣布进行一项计划，双方联手在全球范围内收集10万份人类DNA标本来描绘出史前人类迁移的路线。
这两大集团称，这一历时五年的计划旨在创造出“世界上最大最全面的人类基因信息公共数据库”。这一计划将帮助蓝色巨人在具有数百亿美元潜力的生命科学市场中提高自己的地位。
不过有些科学家称该计划将重新引发利用技术研究人类历史、种族以及基因的种种问题。
科学家们一直在尝试使用基因分析以及电脑技术来研究人类的历史、确定人类种族以及人类社会到底是怎么形成的。所以一些批评者认为，收集特定人群的基因数据将会导致相关伦理以及文化问题。而其他人则对收集这样的信息对个人隐私将造成的影响忧心忡忡。
尽管如此，这个被称为“基因图库”的计划在IBM公司的努力下，将建成最大的人类DNA记录。这个计划的成果将有助于解释人类历史上一些大规模迁徙活动，比如说，早在5万年前，居住在非洲的人类如何离开非洲大陆，如何沿着阿拉伯、印度以及南亚的海岸线到达了澳大利亚。
与以往科学研究计划不同的是，科学家们允许任何人参加这项研究计划。参与者需要做的就是先购买一套“参与工具”然后，然后他们使用一个小塑料棍从脸颊内部刮下一点黏液状的细胞膜，再把样本寄到国家地理协会就可以了。现在这个工具包的售价是99.95美元。
“我们想做的是利用遗传学来推断出人类种族以及迁徙过程的细节，”国家地理协会德人口遗传学家斯宾塞`维尔说。“很明显，在整个计划过程中我们将会收集到海量数据。”
维尔，称这个计划的目标是“填补人类历史知识的空缺”。这一计划将由10位来自不同研究机构的科学家带头进行，例如位于莫斯科的人类人口基因实验室，印度基因科学英才中心，美国辛辛那提州立大学基因组信息中心等。
除了IBM和美国国家地理协会，总部设在拉贺加（美国圣地亚哥）的一个慈善机构——威特家族基金会也资助了这一计划。参加这一计划的科学家们将向不同的人群收集DNA样本并将数据发送到国家地理协会，然后使用IBM的计算机系统对这些信息进行分析。
而个人参与者所缴纳的100美元的费用也将被用于资助研究计划进一步进行。
IBM和国家地理协会同样计划成立一个囊括人类历史、遗传学以及人类迁移历史等大量信息的在线博物馆。
对于为政府以及学术机构提供技术的蓝色巨人来说，这一计划将有助于提高该公司在这一领域的地位。IBM发言人坎莫斯引用工业数据称，生命科学预计在2007年将发展为具有340亿美元潜力的市场。
IBM公司计算机生物中心的高级负责人，生物学家阿坚·罗乌说：“我们认为此项计划是大规模使用科学技术的一个绝佳机会。这样的机会可不是随时都有的。”
这一计划将延续早期科学家们为了研究人类历史以及人类基因组差异性模式的基因材料收集工作。
早期进行的“人类基因组差异性计划”是在私人基金会和政府组织的资助下进行的一次国际性研究。这一早期计划的负责人之一，斯坦福大学的卢卡?卡瓦立夫目前是IBM与国家地理协会这一计划顾问团的成员之一。
这一计划前期工作已在二十世纪九十年代完成，大约收集了全球52个人群的1064份基因样本。这些数据都储存在巴黎基因组差异性研究中心供非营利性实验室的研究使用。
斯坦福大学的生物科学教授马克·费德曼也曾参加过“人类基因组差异性计划”，他认为IBM与国家地理协会的合作将时科学家们更好的了解人类迁徙的路线。
“我们可能更精确地推断出迁徙发生的时间，”他补充说。
以特班·布查德，美国旧金山大学医学院的一位副教授很赞同IBM公司将在这一计划中所起的作用。
“私营企业和国家地理协会这样有名望的机构能够开展这样的研究，我很高兴，” 布查德说，他现在是美国旧金山大学医学院基因银行项目的联合总监。
“现在遗传学领域所缺的正是这样大规模全球性的分析研究，”他补充说。
但是费德曼称IBM公司必须了解该怎样收集样本以及怎样使用这一计划的研究结果。他举例说，一些组织开始质疑“人类基因组差异性计划”的出发点之后，人们就这一问题开始了一场论战。
一些评论家担心DNA样本就会使用在商业目的，而另外一些人群，例如美国和澳大利亚的部落群体将会以宗教或文化传统为由而拒绝参加。
“很多美国部落人群声明对提供基因信息来研究人类历史毫无兴趣，因为他们对自己的民族历史已经十分了解，”费德曼说。“他们不需要生物学家或人类学家来给他们讲述民族历史这样的问题……有的部落甚至认为自己将再次受到剥削。”
费德曼说自己也很担心个人参与者自行提取并提交样本。“我认为这个主意糟透了，”他认为。“科学研究使用的样本必须要保证精确。”来自美国旧金山大学的布查德同样质疑那些来自付费参加研究项目参与者的样本数据的可靠性。“你认为危地马拉的印第安人会支付100美金来参加这样的研究计划么？”他问道。
费德曼也持有同样的看法：“怎样让中亚或中非的人们参加这个计划？人们对这一计划的看法将不尽相同。”
IBM公司称动员个人自行送交样本仅仅是该计划的一部分，这一做法的目的是促进公众参与科学研究的意识。
研究小组计划动员不同的人群来参加这一研究计划，罗乌称。但是不同于“人类基因组差异性计划”，IBM与国家地理协会的这个计划的重点放在人类迁移，而不是种族。
“这可不是要把人分成不同的类别，”他说。“这是为了让我们更加了解人类祖先的历史。这真的就像是研究一个旅程。”
关于参与者样本的可靠性，罗乌称取样工作仅需使用工具包中的取样棍取样，然后寄给国家地理协会就可以，整个过程毫不复杂。
“这感觉起来就像是在刷牙一样，”他说。
但是他也承认，有些参与者可能会提供不大可靠的样本，亚马逊公司已经收到了一份“与众不同”的样本——狗的试样。不过科学家们轻松地解决了这个问题。
