Fruitfly genome reveals shortcomings of modern genome analysis

Hundreds of scientists from more than 100 institutions in 16 countries have combined to sequence and compare 12 fruit fly genomes, in an effort that has increased researchers ’ understanding of fruit flies but, more importantly, also revealed considerable flaws in the way scientists identify genes.

“We've made huge progress in recent years with many genomes, including humans, but a lot of the problems can’t be solved by simply dumping data into a computer and having truth and light come out the other end,” said Indiana University Bloomington biologist Thomas Kaufman, who co-led the project. “One of the things we’ve learned from this project is that when you compare a lot of different but related genomes, you are more likely to see the genes that are buried in all that A-C-T-G mush.”

Two separate papers published recently in Nature report the results of the four-year genome project and use the data to draw some conclusions about the fruit fly genus Drosophila.

One conclusion is that resolving any individual species’ genome is greatly enhanced when related genomes are compared to it.

“This remarkable scientific achievement underscores the value of sequencing and comparing many closely related species, especially those with great potential to enhance our understanding of fundamental biological processes,” said Francis S Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute.

“Thanks to the consortium’s hard work, scientists around the world now have a rich new source of genomic data that can be mined in many different ways and applied to other important model systems as well as humans.”

The scientists also found errors in about 3% of previously sequenced D. melanogaster protein-coding genes, correcting 414 gene sequences on record.