Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 8, 2026

22:27
Hi-C: A Method to Study the Three-dimensional Architecture of Genomes.
Published on: May 7, 2010
The DNA sequence, annotation and analysis of human chromosome 3
Donna M Muzny1, Steven E Scherer, Rajinder Kaul
1Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
Nature
|April 28, 2006
Summary
Researchers sequenced and analyzed human chromosome 3, revealing its unique structure and low duplication rate. This work provides insights into cancer-related genes and evolutionary history, including a significant pericentric inversion.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Human Genetics
- Comparative Genomics
Background:
- The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium is completing the annotation of all human chromosomes.
- Human chromosome 3 is one of the largest and most complex chromosomes in the human genome.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the sequencing and analysis of human chromosome 3.
- To characterize gene clusters and loci associated with human cancers.
- To investigate the evolutionary history of a pericentric inversion on chromosome 3.
Main Methods:
- Whole genome sequencing and sequence finishing.
- Comparative genomic analysis using sequences from chimpanzee and rhesus macaque.
- Identification and characterization of gene clusters, segmental duplications, and fragile sites.
Main Results:
- Chromosome 3 comprises four contigs, including the longest known stretch of finished DNA sequence.
- The chromosome exhibits the lowest rate of segmental duplication in the human genome.
- Identified a chemokine receptor gene cluster and cancer-associated loci, including the FHIT gene and FRA3B fragile site.
- Characterized breakpoints of a large pericentric inversion using comparative genomics.
Conclusions:
- The comprehensive sequencing and analysis of human chromosome 3 provide valuable genomic resources.
- Chromosome 3 harbors important genes related to cancer and immune function.
- The identified pericentric inversion offers insights into primate evolution and genome rearrangements.
Related Concept Videos
Karyotyping
Overview
Genomics
Genomics is the science of genomes: it is the study of all the genetic material of an organism. In humans, the genome consists of information carried in 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nucleus, as well as mitochondrial DNA. In genomics, both coding and non-coding DNA is sequenced and analyzed. Genomics allows a better understanding of all living things, their evolution, and their diversity. It has a myriad of uses: for example, to build phylogenetic trees, to improve productivity and...
Karyotyping
Overview
Synteny and Evolution
John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
RNA-seq
RNA sequencing, or RNA-Seq, is a high-throughput sequencing technology used to study the transcriptome of a cell. Transcriptomics helps to interpret the functional elements of a genome and identify the molecular constituents of an organism. Additionally, it also helps in understanding the development of an organism and the occurrence of diseases.
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while microarray-based...
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while microarray-based...
Genome Annotation and Assembly
The genome refers to all of the genetic material in an organism. It can range from a few million base pairs in microbial cells to several billion base pairs in many eukaryotic organisms. Genome assembly refers to the process of taking the DNA sequencing data and putting it all back together in a correct order to create a close representation of the original genome. This is followed by the identification of functional elements on the newly assembled genome, a process called genome annotation.

