"A map of this detail gives disease-gene hunters who have narrowed their search to a specific region on a chromosome about a 1 in 5 chance that the gene they are looking for has already been characterized by this effort," said Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH's National Center for Human Genome Research, which has funded two of the largest contributors -- Stanford and Whitehead Institute/MIT. "This gene-hunting strategy has already been used successfully to locate and isolate genes responsible for Alzheimer's disease and inherited colon cancer, and can now be greatly expanded," Dr. Collins noted.

"The human gene map will speed the discovery of genes contributing to common diseases such as obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, asthma, multiple sclerosis and psychiatric disorders," said Dr. David Lipman, Director of the Library's National Center for Biotechnology Information, which coordinated the project. "Once identified, treatments, diagnostics, and cures can be developed," Lipman said.

"At the same time, the map will provide the public with a continuously updated window of progress as mapping of the human genome unfolds," Dr. Lipman added. "The 'gene map' takes a complex subject out of the research lab and makes it understandable in our nation's classrooms, and in the homes of Internet users wherever they reside," he continued. "Students will be able to visualize where genes responsible for disease reside on their 23 pairs of chromosomes. Such a widely accessible means of educating the public about genetics and the role of genes in disease is essential if the American public is to benefit fully from the health care advances in genetics."

Dr. Greg Schuler and Dr. Mark Boguski, both NCBI researchers and two of the principal authors of the Science article on the gene map, pointed out that the map's creation was an international collaboration on an extraordinary scale. "104 authors on 3 continents were involved in the production of the Science article," explained Dr. Boguski. "The project received financial support from a diverse group of sponsors which included public funding agencies in the United States, Canada, France, England, and Japan, a private foundation and a pharmaceutical company," he continued.

Dr. Schuler observed, "The gene map will also be of enormous benefit to pharmaceutical companies and small biotechnology firms developing new drugs. It represents a model for cooperative research and development projects between the Federal government and private industry."

The URL for the new WWW site is http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/science96/. The site will be activated at 4:00 PM Eastern Time, October 24, 1996.