UR TV CAST

It is a staggering achievement. For the first time in history, we are able to read our own draft set of genetic instructions

It is a staggering achievement. For the first time in history, we are able to read our own draft set of genetic instructions.
We may be more than a collection of mere genes, but without them we would not exist. From today we have the tool-kit to investigate our own book of life, which for millions of years has been locked away in the 23 pairs of human chromosomes – our genomeScientists and politicians tried yesterday to encapsulate the gravity of the moment when 90 per cent of the 3 billion “letters” of the human genetic code was officially confirmed as having been deciphered.It marked the coming of age of the Human Genome Project, a multi billion-pound project to determine the precise sequence of chemical “letters” that form the digital recipe for making a man or woman.From the White House, Bill Clinton said the unravelling of the human genome had produced the most wondrous map ever made.

“Today’s announcement represents more than just a triumph of science and reason, he said via satellite link to Downing Street. “Today we are learning the language in which God created life.”Tony Blair was equally enthusiastic. “Let us be in no doubt about what we are witnessing today,” he said.”A revolution in medical science whose implications far surpass even the discovery of antibiotics. The first great technological achievement of the 21st century.”But it was the scientists whose rhetoric, normally so prosaic, got the upper hand. Decoding the human genome meant more than landing onthe Moon, more even thanthe invention of the wheel,said Michael Dexter, director of the Wellcome Trust, the world’s biggest medical research charity, which funded most of Britain’s contribution to the project.”This is a momentous day and it may come to be recorded as one of the most significant dates in human history. I say this because knowledge of the Human Genome Project – reading the genetic book of mankind – has the potential to touch the lives of every person on the planet,” Dr Dexter explained “I compared the project to the invention of the wheel On reflection I think I was wrong It is more than that I can well imagine technology making the wheel obsolete. But this code is the essence of mankind, and as long as humans exist, this information is going to be important.”John Sulston, the director of the Wellcome Trust’s Sanger Centre in Cambridge, which has decoded nearly a third of the genome, said no one should underestimate the historic importance of the event.Dr Sulston has been at the forefront of the effort to ensure that all the raw fruits of the research are available to everyone, everywhere.

He, like other members of the publicly funded effort, involving 16 research institutes from six countries, has been vociferous in calling for a free and open exchange of information. No person, no company, no country should own our genetic inheritance, the scientists said.Yet there was a dark cloud on horizon in the form of Craig Venter, the American geneticist and entrepreneur who left the public project to set up his own commercial venture, Celera Genomics, which would, he promised, beat his former colleagues to the finishing post.Yesterday Dr Venter shared a platform with President Clinton and his rivals. The race was over, truce was declared and both sides had agreed to publish their findings jointly in the journal Science.Mr Clinton confirmed: “The public and private research teams are committed to publishing their scientific data together later this year.”One suspects, however, that this is just the start of protracted wrangling over who owns the information. Just as the genome will provide huge leaps in the understanding of human disease, vast sums will be made by whoever patents the best and most lucrative medical discoveries.And this will not be the only ethical issue that the new genetics is set to raise. Genetics has a long and blemished history, tarnished by its misuse by the Nazis to justify their very special kind of negative eugenics.From the beginning, the scientists were keen to acknowledge the moral issues that will undoubtedly accrue from their decoding of the DNA sequence, ensuring that up to 5 per cent of the funds were set aside to spend on studying the ethical implications of the work.Genes are not just about disease and ill health. They are also about race, gender and a genuine fear of a “genetic underclass” who could suddenly find that the new knowledge means they cannot get insurance.Dr Sulston, like many of his colleagues on the genome project, is acutely conscious of public fears.