SOUTH MORNING POST MONDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2010 Hong Kong & Delta A3

Mainland gives talent advantage HK to become world genomics hub

• CONTINUED FROM A1 How Jingjing can help BGI is at the forefront of genomic sci- ence on the mainland. reveal the mysteries BGI started life as the Beijing Ge- of DNA sequencing nomics Institute. The central govern- ment set it up in Beijing in 1999 when What is DNA sequencing about? Let’s it decided to join the international take the panda as an example. Human Genome Project and se- Organisms’ genomes could quenced 1 per cent of the total hu- contain billions of base pairs – man genome. BGI relocated its head- Alex Wong nucleotides on opposite sides of a Fleshpoint. A model with a light-sabre attracts many firms reported good sales. The show opened quarters to in 2007. DNA strand. DNA sequencing uses attention at the Asia Game Show at the Hong Kong on Friday and more than 450,000 visitors are In April this year, the institute set scale sequencing resembled a biochemical methods to determine up its Hong Kong sequencing centre, labour-intensive Henry Ford assem- the order of these nucleotide bases, Convention and Exhibition Centre. Organisers say expected before it ends today. Photo: Sam Tsang financed with part of a 10 billion yuan bly line. While acknowledging that which have only four types. Their low-interest loan from the state-run information generated from DNA se- initial letters are A, T, G and C. China Development Bank. The Hong quencing is very useful for geneticists To assemble the genome of three- Kong centre is to handle most of the and biologists, he said sequencing year-old female Beijing Olympics institute’s international genomics simply was not an innovative activity. mascot panda Jingjing, which was business, taking advantage of the “Basically, genome analysers will published on the cover of in Duck back after epic flight to Siberia city’s scientific research capability sequence automatically as long as December last year, BGI scientists had and easier customs facilities for im- you can afford these expensive ma- to map 21 pairs of large linear nuclear chromosomes, organised as two porting biological specimens such as chines,” the Beijing-based biological ...... blood, tissue and urine. chemist said. “BGI’s work is more like double-helical DNA molecules that During the northern migration it have settled in North Adrian Wan Ming’s view Flight path BGI now has a staff of 3,000 at six a transcriber that simply copies encode many genes. The 21 stopped in places including Jiangsu Korea as it has spent research centres across the main- down crude DNA data from organ- chromosomes consist of some 2.4 A wild duck fitted with a transmitter province, the Yellow Sea in over a month in differ- Siberia land, Hong Kong and centres in Bos- isms, but that doesn’t mean BGI un- billion base pairs. last December made it back home on South Korea, Heilongjiang A8 ent places there. ton and Copenhagen. About 100 derstands what it is writing about.” Using the next-generation DNA Christmas Day, to the delight of con- province, the Amur estuary in eastern Using funding from bioinformatics specialists work at the But biology professor Samuel Sun sequencing technology, BGI’s servationists working on the project. Russia and Siberia. It stayed in Siberia the Food and Agriculture Organisa- RUSSIA Hong Kong facility and about 1,500 at Sai-ming from the Chinese Univer- bioinformaticians were able to The duck is the only one of 23 and bred for three months before tion of the United Nations, WWF BGI’s Shenzhen headquarters to an- sity of Hong Kong said he was confi- simultaneously read massive from Hong Kong tagged with the de- heading south at the end of Septem- Hong Kong collaborated with the alyse and interpret the reams of DNA dent BGI could make major contri- amounts of DNA pieces with fewer vice to have returned to Mai Po. ber. From there it flew at least 1,700 University of Hong Kong’s microbi- data churned out by the sequencers. butions. It would not mean much to than 100 bases each, after breaking Its return will help ecologists un- kilometres in three days – at about ology department, Asia Ecological Those 1,600 specialists are a huge genomic if BGI simply se- large DNA molecules into small pieces derstand the role of migratory birds 50km/h – stopping in Russia and Ja- Consultants and the US Geological asset, says Sumio Sugano, bioscience quenced DNA alone, Sun said. “But with high-pressure nitrogen. and how they can be conserved by pan before reaching Guangzhou this Survey on the project. professor at the University of Tokyo. BGI has thousands of bioinformatics That was an advance over showing for the first time the bird’s month. The cold front pushed it fur- Katherine Leung, WWF Hong “They are all under 30 and these specialists to manage, analyse and traditional sequencing technology, complete migration. ther south and prompted its return Kong’s reserve officer, said the CHINA young brains with world-top capabil- interpret the huge amount of DNA which only allowed researchers to Officers at the Mai Po Nature Re- home after covering more than 6,000 project provided insight into links be- ity of sequencing and computing sequence data, making biological sequence a much bigger piece of DNA serve were surprised when the north- kilometres. tween breeding and non-breeding power could make BGI the future sense of the DNA sequences. It can containing 500 to 1,000 base pairs at ern pintail, numbered 91268, ap- The duck is expected to set off on areas. “During migration, ducks face JAPAN Apple, Microsoft or Google in the ge- mine the data and make discoveries one time. That took longer, like a peared on Christmas Day. another migration soon. many threats, like natural predators, in biological and medical The ducks were fitted with a 20- Of the other transmitters fitted to hunters and diseases. Another wor- and for further applications.” gram solar-powered transmitter at the ducks at Mai Po, only two are rying trend is development projects, [BGI] can mine the Kelvin Lee, a professor of chemi- Mai Po on December 9 last year. sending signals to the tracker. Others including reclamation, which results cal engineering at the University of The tracker shows that the bird might either have fallen off or did not possibly in habitat loss for them and data and make Delaware, said that because life-sci- left Deep Bay, off Lau Fau Shan, in get enough sunlight, or the ducks other waterbirds,” she said. “Their 100km discoveries in ences research relied heavily on ac- February and took about five months could have been hunted. Another migration route will help us protect Hong Kong cess to large amounts of high-quality to reach the Arctic Circle in June. duck, a Eurasian wigeon, appears to them better in the future.” SCMP GRAPHIC biological and sequencing data, BGI was capable of providing the foundation of knowl- medical sciences edge needed for the study of genom- ...... ics to move forward this century. Samuel Sun, biology professor at the Last year, BGI launched a 400,000 Scientists mapped a panda’s DNA Chinese University of Hong Kong hectare project with the government to help their research. Photo: AFP of Laos, exploring the possibility of nomics field,” Sugano said, and the turning genetically modified plants tailor making a suit himself instead of influence could reach beyond medi- such as cassava, sugar cane, oil palm dividing the material into small pieces cine to agriculture and green energy. and castor oil into food, biological and having 100 tailors work at the No single institute in the US or Eu- alcohol or diesel oil within five years. same time. After sequencing, rope can afford 1,600 bioinformatics Yin Ye , a BGI vice-president, bioinformaticians needed to assemble specialists, but the mainland’s said the institute’s ambitions includ- tens of millions of all those tiny DNA cheaper labour market makes it pos- ed cutting the cost of sequencing a pieces with supercomputers, putting sible. Labour is usually about one- human genome from less than each fragment in the right place – one third of the cost of sequencing (re- US$10,000 this year to US$2,000 – and of the world’s most difficult puzzles. agents, computing and capital ex- eventually to an affordable level for About 36 per cent of the DNA penditure make up the rest). everyone. The Human Genome pieces from the panda were repeated BGI is hiring Chinese specialists in Project, which published its first – like a book with 24 million words computer science, biology, mathe- rough sequence of mankind’s genet- and repetitions of “Hello” and matics, statistics and genetics at ic code in 2001, cost an estimated “Goodbye”. In the same way that about one-fifth the price its US and US$3 billion. scholars would need to find the right European counterparts must pay. Jay Flatley, chief executive of the pages for “Hello” if the book were BGI technology director Li Jing- world’s leading genome sequencing shredded and needed to be xiang said it was difficult to company, Illumina, based in Califor- reconstructed, the researchers had to recruit bioinformatics specialists in nia, predicts DNA sequencing will solve a difficult problem to know Hong Kong because many fresh become so cheap that babies born where the DNA pieces belonged. graduates with related backgrounds from 2019 onwards will have their ge- BGI finally assembled 2.25 billion joined the financial sector. And be- netic code routinely mapped at birth. base pairs of DNA, or 94 per cent of cause technicians in Hong Kong cost Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, a professor the panda’s whole genome. more than BGI is used to paying, the of medicine at Chinese University, It was the first reported de novo number of such specialists will be hopes the presence of such a large assembly – the piecing together of a kept to a minimum in Tai Po, with facility will raise Hong Kong’s profile previously unknown sequence – of a most IT work done in Shenzhen. in the global genomics community. large mammalian genome by means Not everyone is impressed with “BGI’s achievements show that of the latest methods. BGI. Pseudo-science debunker Dr with timely funding, Asian scientists ...... Fang Shimin , better known can compete at the highest level on Fiona Tam as Fang Zhouzi , said large- the world stage,” he said. In Brief

Man jailed for three months Australian woman sought Complaints about agency fees for indecent assault on plane after failing to appear in court up, says domestic helpers’ union A man who molested a woman on Police are searching for a woman An Indonesian domestic helpers’ board a plane flying from the United who allegedly attacked a man on union has called for government States to Hong Kong was yesterday board a flight from Australia to Hong action against employment agencies sentenced to three months in jail. Kong after she failed to appear in that charge domestic helpers Alphonse Raj Ranjith court. Xiang Zhie, 30, a housewife excessive fees. The call follows a 30 Gnanasuthakar, 29, an engineer from New South Wales, was charged per cent rise in the number of working in the US, pleaded guilty at with common assault for attacking complaints over agency fees this Sha Tin Court to indecent assault for Michael Victor Wright on a Qantas year, from 30 in 2009 to 39, touching a Japanese passenger Airways flight from Sydney on according to the union. The sitting next to him three times on a Wednesday. She was accused of Indonesian Migrant Workers Union United Airlines flight from Chicago breaching the Aviation Security accused the Labour Department of on Wednesday. He touched her Ordinance. Xiang, who had been dragging its feet despite repeated hand and waist before touching her released on HK$3,000 bail, failed to complaints. It also said there were 36 breasts on top of her bra while she appear at Sha Tin Court. Magistrate complaints this year about was sleeping. He was arrested on Peter Law Tak-chuen revoked her employers not giving workers a arrival at Hong Kong International bail and issued a warrant for her compensation day off for extra shifts Airport. arrest. worked.