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Gains Expected From Genetic
Research
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press Writer Senator Tom
Harkin
JULY 11, 14:32 EST
WASHINGTON (AP) - Humankind stands on the verge of a
new era of breakthroughs in treating disease thanks to the sequencing of
the human genome, scientists told lawmakers Wednesday. ``The promise of
this research is great for alleviating human suffering,'' said Dr. Francis
Collins, director of genome research at the National Institutes of Health.
``If research continues to proceed vigorously, we can expect medicine to
be transformed dramatically in the coming decades,'' Collins told the
Senate Appropriations subcommittee on labor, health and human services.
Actor Ben Affleck meets with senators AP/Dennis Cook
[20K]
Scientists have identified the chemical sequence of
most of the human genome, the set of instructions in every cell that
organizes the body. Now they are working on learning what each of those
chemical instructions does and what happens when it is copied incorrectly.
While Collins and other researchers painted the future in glowing terms,
they were joined by 13-year-old Joe Kindregan of Springfield, Va., who has
a rare but progressive disease and hopes their work will pay off soon.
Actor Ben Affleck, who met and befriended the youngster, joined the panel
to urge added federal funds for genetic research in general and, in
particular, the deadly disease ataxia-telangiectasia that the Virginia boy
and about 600 youngsters in the country have. In researching diseases,
``it's important to remember that there is a human cost. ... They're real
people undergoing real suffering,'' Affleck said. The youngster's
situation is emblematic of hundreds of thousands of people with disorders
that do not make the headlines, Collins said. He recalled being part of a
team that discovered the faulty gene that causes the disease. Now
scientists need to find out why that gene causes the problems it does when
it is not working properly, he said, adding that there may be more people
studying the disease than suffering from it. The disease causes a loss of
muscle control, predisposes youngsters to cancer and damages their immune
systems. Overall, the panel of scientists had good news. Collins, for one,
foresees family doctors testing for a variety of genetic abnormalities and
prescribing treatments to prevent development of disease. For example, he
reported, scientists have identified the gene causing a rare blood disease
called hereditary hemochromatosis, which causes dangerous levels of iron
to accumulate in the blood. ``Once people are identified by genetic
testing they can easily be treated by periodically removing some of the
blood,'' Collins said in prepared testimony. It's a combination of one of
science's newest diagnostic tools with one of its oldest treatments,
bloodletting. Philip Needleman, chief scientist at the drug company
Pharmacia, told the subcommittee that genetic research ``isn't something
far off in the future. It happens now.'' Researchers are studying the
causes of Alzheimer's disease, he said, and are on the trail of treatments
for colon cancer. Stephen Rich of Wake Forest University said multiple
genes interact with the environment in the development of Type 1 diabetes.
If doctors can screen people to find those at risk, they can develop ways
to prevent the onset of disease.
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