Finishing fourteen

A French-led team has finished the sequencing of human chromosome 14.

Written byJonathan Weitzman
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

Draft genome sequences require careful finishing (closing the gaps and ironing out the inconsistencies) to become really useful resources. In an Advanced Online Publication in Nature, Roland Heilig and colleagues report the first finished human chromosome for the year 2003 (Nature, DOI:10.1038/nature01348, January 1 2003).

Chromosome 14 now joins the three other completed chromosomes, namely chromosomes 22, 21 and 20. Human chromosome 14 contains a number of loci of interest to immunologists, notably the T-cell receptor locus and the immunoglobulin heavy chain locus, as well as genes linked to genetic diseases such as Niemann-Pick disease, early onset Alzheimer's disease and Usher syndrome.

The finished sequence — in a single contig over 87 megabases long — covers the entire euchromatic region and the sequence quality is 99.99%. The general landscape of chromosome 14 resembles that of the whole genome; the G+C content is 40.9%, it is peppered with repetitive elements covering ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

Share
Image of small blue creatures called Nergals. Some have hearts above their heads, which signify friendship. There is one Nergal who is sneezing and losing health, which is denoted by minus one signs floating around it.
June 2025, Issue 1

Nergal Networks: Where Friendship Meets Infection

A citizen science game explores how social choices and networks can influence how an illness moves through a population.

View this Issue
An illustration of green lentiviral particles.

Maximizing Lentivirus Recovery

cytiva logo
Unraveling Complex Biology with Advanced Multiomics Technology

Unraveling Complex Biology with Five-Dimensional Multiomics

Element Bioscience Logo
Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Resurrecting Plant Defense Mechanisms to Avoid Crop Pathogens

Twist Bio 
The Scientist Placeholder Image

Seeing and Sorting with Confidence

BD

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Agilent Unveils the Next Generation in LC-Mass Detection: The InfinityLab Pro iQ Series

agilent-logo

Agilent Announces the Enhanced 8850 Gas Chromatograph

parse-biosciences-logo

Pioneering Cancer Plasticity Atlas will help Predict Response to Cancer Therapies