Genome

The Human Genome Project

Two Scientific Teams jointly announced in June that their researchers, working separately, had deciphered the human genetic code. Elation in the scientific community and extensive media coverage signaled the importance of their accomplishment for the capabilities of medical science in the third millennium. Human biology processes, conditions and even behaviors and mental states linked to biology is promised by this advance. The accomplishment opens to the prevention or treatment of disease and the improvement of human health and capabilities. Genomics will soon revolutionize the practice of medicine and extend the average human life span beyond 90 years.

The Human Genome Project is an international project to discover all the 80,000 human genes that structure our bodies, and to determine the sequence of the 3 billion DNA bases that encode those genes. In this project, both the genetic part and the non-genetic part are deciphered. As one example, the new science of regenerative medicine exploits the body's internal communications system to help it respond to damage and disease by repairing tissue and bolstering the immune system. Personalized medicine, offering drugs tailored to the individual genetic makeup of the patient, thus enhancing the effectiveness of treatments for ailments like cancer, heart disease and some forms of mental illness. Diagnostic testing raises the possibility of detecting genetic liabilities in utero. Medical science may be able to intervene in germ cells or embryos to remove or change a gene, so that its effects would not only be prevented in one individual, but also would not be passed on to the next generation.

Such possibilities raise the question of what to count as a defect, how to gauge the seriousness of a genetic threat and how to evaluate the appropriate course of action given the presence of such a threat. Yet attempts to avoid illness may cause unexpected harms, since genes are complex and their functions not fully understood? Moreover, the genome of every individual is sure to contain "errors," whose consequences will depend on many factors, including interaction with other genes, environment, medical care, lifestyle and even culture.

Issues of confidentiality and social control take these questions a step further, into the economic and political realms. Is genetic information completely private, or should access be given to family members, insurers, employers or public health agencies? On the other hand, genetic science will be able to identify links to positive traits like intelligence, memory or socially desirable details of appearance. Is it just as valid to enhance the genetic code, as it is to remove or cure pathologies? What is to count as a genuine improvement, and who will be able to obtain one?

THE POTENTIAL

1 Substantial genetic influences have been demonstrated in diseases such as cancer, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, diabetes, and