|
|
|
|
|
 GENETICS |
| WE'VE READ THE BOOK,NOW WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
|
| It was billed as one of those milestone events,biology's version of the moon landing.On june 26, the US goverment
and private-sector researcherstold the world that their computers had identified virtually all three billion chemical
units that make up the human genome,the collective noun for the complete set of a species's genes.The genetic
code had been cracked, the Book of Life revealed.But the gap between scientific breakthroughs and improved
health has often been vast. The genome is,after all, just raw data written in DNA.Figuring out how it gets
transcribed and translated into proteins,the workhorses of everything biological,is the hard work ahead.Moreover,
what has been done so far is only an incomplete,rough draft,the product of a truce between U.S. goverment
scientists and celera Genomics,a private company.Meanwhile,major economics, legal and ethical question about
genetic testing, privacy, and ownership loom , ominous and unanswered.only two things are certain about what
the sequenced genome will mean for medicine.First that it will be important. And second, that nothing is certain.
But here are some of the possible implications: |
| PERSONAL RISK ASSESSMENT
|
| A study of someone's genetic makeup could replace family history and other indirect clues to assess disease risk,
allowing people to determine their own,personal risk.Personalizing risk could spell the end of one size fits-all
screening recommendations.it could also mean some adjusment of blanket health recommendations.
|
| PERSONAL DRUG THERAPY.
|
| Individual genetic sequence may indicate response time, sucess rates, side effects, and allergic reactions to
specific antibiotics,anticancer drugs, or heart medicines.Imagine chemotherapy without hair loss or nausea.
The day may come when everyone will have DNA "chips" that the doctor will scan in before ordering a
prescription..
|
| MORE RAPID ,LESS COSTLY NEW DRUG DEVELOPMENT.
|
| Bioinformatics_using computers to analyze the moutains of genomic data-could make drug development more
predictable,and therefore faster and cheaper. the whole commercial side of the genomics enterprise is banking
on huge returns from bioinformatics.
|
| PRENATAL THERAPY.
|
| Insertion of correct genetic material into a foetus found to have a fatal or very serious genetic mutation might
allow a pregancy to continue and result in a normal baby.
.
|
| INFORMATION OVERLOAD.
.
|
| Many diseases aren't going to be caused by one changed or mutated gene, but by the interplay of different
genes-10, 15,20, or more- some in the mitochondria, some in the cell nucleus.with so many targets, it's not
always going to be clear where to intervene.
.
|
| LEGAL PROTECTIONS NEEDED.
.
|
| The potential for discrimination or invasion of privacy using genomic information is enormous.without some tough
legal protections, genome-based medicine could be more a curse than a blessing.
|
| PROBLEM-PLAGUED GENE THRAPY
.
|
The human genome sequence may open up wonderful new treatments for correcting genetic mutations through
the implantation of normal sequence.But so far, gene therapy hasn't lived up to its promise.And its widespread
use,especially when it involves the sperm or eggs,would raise profound medical and ethical concerns.Finally, in
the never- ending "nature vs. nurture" debate, the genome sequence will likely swing the pendulum to the nature
side.But genetic determinism is dangerous and wrong.we are much more than just our genetic code.Even a disease
such as schizophrenia, which undoubtedly has a large genetic component, is also shaped by outside factors.
sequencing the genome is really just the beginning.How the information gets used and put into action will be the
ethical and medical challenge of the century.
| | |
|
|
|
MY GUEST-BOOK
|
your body 