Imagine your mother has a genetic disease that is painful and crippling, and that eventually will lead to her death. Imagine that her mother died of it several years ago. Imagine that you are likely to already have this disease or to develop it soon. Now, imagine that there is a possibility for a cure. There is research being done right now on the specific gene that causes this disease, and within the next ten years there will likely be a cure for this genetic disease. This research could change your life. It could mean that you live a healthy, normal life and have healthy, normal children, or that your mother's suffering ends.
This is what scientists believe sequencing
human genomes can do for us. By learning what every single combination
of base pairs controls, scientists hope to create new cures for
the many genetic diseases that plague our society, among other
things. Already, scientists have successfully sequenced one human
genome completely, but more must be sequenced in order to compare
genes. Someday it could be standard that every human being has
their DNA sequenced at an early age to detect for potentially
harmful diseases and disorders. Genome research has already led
to several discoveries and possibilities for the cures for diseases
such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart attacks, and tumors.
(1) As Peltonen and McKusik state in their discussion of the postgenomic
era,
"This dramatic increase in the amount of genomic information
will have a tremendous impact on biomedical research and on the
way that medicine is practiced..The complete genome sequence of
humans and of many other species provides a new starting point
for understanding our basic genetic makeup and how variations
in our genetic instructions result in disease." (2)
They also point out likely possibilities for our future concerning human genome sequencing. Screening of newborns for diseases, preventing now incurable diseases, finding out carrier status before making the decision to have children, determining late onset diseases, and the monitoring of drug responses are all potential uses of sequenced genomes in the near future. (3) These potential uses would benefit our society in many ways and create a new type of health care. Treatments would be more specialized and individualized as well as preventative.
Finding cures and creating treatments for genetic diseases however, are not the only possibilities sequencing the human genome provides. Examining our genetic makeup also allows us to discover more about our identity as humans. By comparing the human genome to those of distant and nearly related organisms, we will be able to understand the things we have both in common, and those that differ. By examining organisms and evolution in this manner we can take a new approach to the existence of human beings on this earth. This research can also be applied to examine the tiny differences that have created diversity among human beings. Sequencing the human genome creates a whole new method for looking at evolution and human existence:
"...the few differences between our genome and those of the great apes will be profoundly interesting because among them lie the genetic prerequisites that make us different from all other animals. In particular, these differences may reveal the genetic foundation for our rapid cultural evolution and geographic expansion, which started between 150,000 and 50,000 years ago and led to our current overbearing domination of Earth. The realization that one or a few genetic accidents made human history possible will provide us with a whole new set of philosophical challenges to think about." Svante Paabo (4)
While human genome research is relatively new, with the double helical shape of DNA having been discovered in 1953, it is a rapidly growing field of science that directly affects our lives as human beings. The huge potential for research and discoveries involving human genome sequences means a future of new cures, treatments, knowledge, understanding, and much more that we cannot even imagine. The structure of our genome is so essential to our lives that it affects us all in many ways, promising new things everyday. The nature of this field of science is quick and constant creating new possibilities everyday and beginning new projects and companies moment by moment. This new knowledge has already changed the way we look at science and promises to continue to do so.
1. "In the News." National Human Genome Research
Institute. : http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/NEWS/news.html.
2. McKursick, Victor A., Peltonen, Leena. "Disecting Human
Disease in the Postgenomic Era." Science Magazine:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/291/5507/1224.
3. McKursick, Victor A., Peltonen, Leena. "Disecting Human
Disease in the Postgenomic Era." Science Magazine:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/291/5507/1224.
4. Paabo, Svante. "The Human Genome and Our View of Ourselves."
Science Magazine: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/291/5507/1219.
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"The Greatest Biological Development in Science History"--Talks about progress in genetic research and includes a "Table of Human Genome Statistics" "Dissecting Human Disease in the Postgenomic Era"--Examines the changes in genetic research "Complete Genomes in KEGG"--List of progress in sequencing genomes "Top 10 Organisms of the Month"--Number of new nucleotide sequences processed in GenBank for September 2000 |
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"Experts Wrestle With Social, Ethical Implications of Human Genome Research"--The Journal of the American Medical Association "Ethical Concerns"--World Book Encyclopedia |
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Council for Responsible Genetics--The Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG) encourages informed public debate about the social, ethical, and environmental implications of new genetic technologies, and advocates for socially responsible use of these technologies. National Human Genome Research Institute--Official government site for Human Genome research ELSI --Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Human Genetics Research--Created by the Human Genome Project to adress issues that arise around the project |
