Identification of an imprinted gene, <i>Meg3</i>/<i>Gtl2</i> and its human homologue <i>MEG3</i>, first mapped on mouse distal chromosome 12 and human chromosome 14q

This is the first identification of the imprinting gene, both on mouse distal chromosome 12 and on human chromosome 14q, respectively. Because there are no obvious open reading frames in either the mouse Meg3/Gtl2 or human MEG3, the function of these genes remains unclear. However, this result will provide a good basis for the further investigation of several important imprinted genes in this chromosomal region.