1. Molecular medicine
The human genome will have profound effects on the fields of biomedical research and clinical medicine. Every disease has a genetic component. This may be inherited (as is the case with an estimated 3000-4000 hereditary disease including Cystic Fibrosis and Huntingtons disease) or a result of the body's response to an environmental stress which causes alterations in the genome (eg. cancers, heart disease, diabetes..). The completion of the human genome means that we can search for the genes directly associated with different diseases and begin to understand the molecular basis of these diseases more clearly. This new knowledge of the molecular mechanisms of disease will enable better treatments, cures and even preventative tests to be developed.
More drug targets
At present all drugs on the market target only about 500 proteins. With an improved understanding of disease mechanisms and using computational tools to identify and validate new drug targets, more specific medicines that act on the cause, not merely the symptoms, of the disease can be developed. These highly specific drugs promise to have fewer side effects than many of today's medicines.
Personalised medicine
Clinical medicine will become more personalised with the development of the field of pharmacogenomics. This is the study of how an individual's genetic inheritence affects the body's response to drugs. At present, some drugs fail to make it to the market because a small percentage of the clinical patient population show adverse affects to a drug due to sequence variants in their DNA. As a result, potentially life saving drugs never make it to the marketplace. Today, doctors have to use trial and error to find the best drug to treat a particular patient as those with the same clinical symptoms can show a wide range of responses to the same treatment. In the future, doctors will be able to analyse a patient's genetic profile and prescribe the best available drug therapy and dosage from the beginning.
Preventative medicine
With the specific details of the genetic mechanisms of diseases being unravelled, the development of diagnostic tests to measure a persons susceptibility to different diseases may become a distinct reality. Preventative actions such as change of lifestyle or having treatment at the earliest possible stages when they are more likely to be successful, could result in huge advances in our struggle to conquer disease.
Gene therapy
In the not too distant future, the potential for using genes themselves to treat disease may become a reality. Gene therapy is the approach used to treat, cure or even prevent disease by changing the expression of a persons genes. Currently, this field is in its infantile stage with clinical trials for many different types of cancer and other diseases ongoing.
Microbial genome applications
Microorganisms are ubiquitous, that is they are found everywhere. They have been found surviving and thriving in extremes of heat, cold, radiation, salt, acidity and pressure. They are present in the environment, our bodies, the air, food and water. Traditionally, use has been made of a variety of microbial properties in the baking, brewing and food industries. The arrival of the complete genome sequences and their potential to provide a greater insight into the microbial world and its capacities could have broad and far reaching implications for environment, health, energy and industrial applications. For these reasons, in 1994, the US Department of Energy (DOE) initiated the MGP (Microbial Genome Project) to sequence genomes of bacteria useful in energy production, environmental cleanup, industrial processing and toxic waste reduction.By studying the genetic material of these organisms, scientists can begin to understand these microbes at a very fundamental level and isolate the genes that give them their unique abilities to survive under extreme conditions.
Waste cleanupDeinococcus radiodurans is known as the world's toughest bacteria and it is the most radiation resistant organism known. Scientists are interested in this organism because of its potential usefulness in cleaning up waste sites that contain radiation and toxic chemicals.The following articles contain more information:
superbug - cleans up uranium from toxic waste sites Microbial Genome Program (MGP) scientists are determining the DNA sequence of the genome of C. crescentus, one of the organisms responsible for sewage treatment.
superbug - cleans up uranium from toxic waste sites Microbial Genome Program (MGP) scientists are determining the DNA sequence of the genome of C. crescentus, one of the organisms responsible for sewage treatment.
