China launches nationwide proteome project

China has officially launched the China Human Proteome Project (CNHPP), a nationwide effort to map all the proteins in major organs over the next three to five years. The CNHPP will look at the protein profiles of both healthy and diseased tissue in organs such as the heart in a bid to explore the effects of different diseases, and ultimately discover new approaches to treating them.

Around 200 researchers at 40 labs throughout the country are expected to be involved, and the Chinese government is heavily investing in new facilities, such as the National Core Facility for Protein Sciences and National Center for Biomedical Big Data, which are both scheduled to open next year. The project will be coordinated by the recently set up Beijing Proteome Research Center.

Data from the CNHPP will also be fed into the Human Proteome Project, an international collaboration similar to the Human Genome Project that aims to map the entire human proteome.