How to count…human genes (original) (raw)

Nature Genetics volume 25, pages 129–130 (2000)Cite this article

Biology occasionally mirrors human activity with unnerving irony. This year has seen the spectacular rise and fall of biotechnology stock values as at first exuberance and then sanity swept through the investor community. Based on reports1,2,3 presented on pages 232, 235 and 239, similar sentiments should now apply to estimates from some organizations of ever-increasing values for the total number of human genes. With the near completion of the human draft sequence, mere gene counting may seem a sterile exercise—the ‘real’ answer will surely be known soon? The analyses in this issue throw into sharp focus the question of what should be counted as a gene. They indicate that, not only should our expectations for the full number of human genes be revised downwards, but also, that existing EST databases may contain as little as 40% of the protein-coding fraction of the human genome.

EST clustering versus direct sampling

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  1. University Department of Oncology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Mechanisms in Disease, Cambridge, CB2 2XY , UK
    Samuel A J R Aparicio

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  1. Samuel A J R Aparicio
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Aparicio, S. How to count…human genes.Nat Genet 25, 129–130 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/75949

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