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Genomics and the Future by Mika Pringle Tolson |
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| The 1999 TSR&TP Annual Research Symposium was held at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Barbara on April 9th and 10th. Over 220 UC faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students, and members of the general public attended the event. Participants enjoyed a reception and informal poster viewing Friday evening, and then a keynote speech on genomics followed by formal poster sessions on Saturday. Saturday morning, the symposium host, Roger Nisbet, from the TSR&TP Coastal Toxicology Lead Campus Program, gave a welcome from the UCSB campus and spoke about recent activities of the lead campus. Jerry Last, TSR&TP Director, followed with an update on the UC MTBE research. The final report on the UC research was published and delivered to the California Governor in November of 1998. Cal EPA sponsored two public workshops during the public comment period in February, one in southern California at Diamond Bar, and one in Sacramento. Both workshops were well attended and participants appreciated the opportunity to hear presentations from the UC researchers. The success of the MTBE research program demonstrates that specialized interdisciplinary teams at UC can be put together in a short amount of time to address a current problem and provide exemplary service to the state. |
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| Jerry Last introduced the keynote speaker, Tony Carrano, Associate Director for Biology and Biotechnology Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The title of his talk was "Genomics: A Glimpse into the 21st Century", and he began by stating that we are in the midst of a new scientific revolution in telecommunications, science and the internet. He said physics is now giving way to biosciences. The change was sparked largely by the Human Genome Project, begun in the 1980s and officially funded by the US Government in 1991. |
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 Keynote speaker, Tony Carrano from LLNL, addresses the audience at the TSR&TP Symposium in Santa Barbara. |
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| The purpose of the Human Genome Project is to complete the sequences of all human genes, a more cost-effective approach than millions of dollars and years of time spent on finding single genes for specific diseases. The project is an international effort, with the bulk of the research being done in five labs in the United States. As gene sequences are completed, the researchers are required to upload their results on the world wide web every night, and pharmaceutical companies and others are actively accessing this information. There are currently only about 500 drugs that are targeted for development based on results of the Human Genome Project, but that number is estimated to increase to anywhere between 3,000 and 10,000 targets when the project is completed. The future of pharmaceuticals is heading toward gene-savvy drugs - drugs developed for patients based on their genotype - and realtime sensors in gene products that will allow instantaneous treatment for many different kinds of conditions. Implantable pumps are currently being used for insulin treatment in diabetics and this technology might be used in the future for personalized drug-delivery to treat other diseases. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has developed a portable Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine to analyze for microbes in blood, urine, or other tissue for instant diagnosis. These machines could become prevalent in physician’s offices and greatly reduce the cost and time involved in diagnosing disease. Although many of the results of the Human Genome Project will directly benefit humans, Carrano believes the greatest impact the project will have on our lives will be in plants and farm animals where genetic engineering could significantly increase productivity, assure uniformity of product, and decrease susceptibility to pests and disease. However beneficial the Human Genome Project may be, there are a number of associated ethical, legal and social issues which need to be addressed. Carrano said the project did not create these problems, but it did bring them to the surface. The issues we are grappling with include genetic testing, insurability, employment, criminal justice, and education. Should we offer diagnostics if there is no treatment for a disease? Or if the results of having a gene cannot be certain? Should insurers deny health coverage because of an individual’s genetic susceptibility to disease? Should that person or society be asked to pay more because they are a higher risk? Should employment be denied because of a genetic predisposition to alcoholism, cancer, or any other undesirable trait? Are individuals responsible for their actions if they are genetically linked? Who owns an individual’s genetic information? There are no easy answers to these questions, and Carrano concluded that we are in dire need of public education now because these issues will be major problems in the future. The floor was opened to the audience, and a participant asked about what opportunities exist for graduate students and faculty to become involved in human genome research and/or access the information for their own research. Carrano answered that there are websites where completed genetic sequences are available on a daily basis. Linkages can be obtained through http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/HUGO/. There are also opportunities at research facilities associated with LLNL such as the large mass spectrometer facility at LLNL which offers grants to faculty and students to use the facility. For more information, please visit the LLNL website http://www-bio.llnl.gov/cbb/cbb.home.php. |
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