DNA dynamics

Are we poised on the threshold of a major scientific revolution? Hyperbole comes easy in the information age, but the countdown has begun ...

Are we poised on the threshold of a major scientific revolution? Hyperbole comes easy in the information age, but the countdown has begun for the official start of the genetic century. If all goes as per schedule, and as per their almost competitive bravado, scientists will complete the first full draft of the human genome that is, a bit-by-bit blueprint of the billions of chemical bases that make up the 23 human chromosomes by the second half of this month.

In 1953 when he and James Watson hazarded the double helix structure of the DNA, Francis Crick had triumphantly exclaimed, 8220;We have discovered the secret of life.8221; Scientists attached to the Human Genome Project, a 1.25 billion transcontinental endeavour, can now lay claim to having discovered the map of life. For, a cartography and deep understanding of the human genome, for which the forthcoming draft is only the very first step, would not only enable us to better solve many a genetic puzzle, it would also pave the way for effective treatment of a host of disorders and diseases. In fact, given an individual8217;s genetic information, doctors may in the near future identify the afflictions and discomforts awaiting him and hopefully offer pre-emptive regimens.

That, of course, is some way off. What scientists are collating at the moment is extremely raw data; as they continue their slow march up the double helix, they will have to determine the functions of sequences of DNA mapped. Therein lies the problem. A maverick scientist-entrepreneur, Craig Venter, while racing along with Project members to map the genome, has been applying for patents on sequences of DNA. It has all the makings of a good versus evil thriller: Scientists backed by governments across the globe racing to put their findings in the public domain before a genetic marauder can rush with them to the patent office.

That it is unethical to patent genetic matter ought to be patently obvious, but it is bewildering that consensus on tripping Venter has proved elusive thus far. For, to file a patent on something, one must prove that it is novel, and that it has a function. Venter is merely patenting stretches of DNA that could one day prove to be of use for some unspecified end. So, if a researcher labouring in a faraway laboratory discovers the function of a gene, and finds that the DNA sequence involved is patented by Venter, he will have to seek Venter8217;s permission and agree on a payment. What a far cry from the heady, innocent times Watson and Crick worked in!

Along with the obvious benefits that will accrue from a deep knowledge of the genome, there are other imponderables already being debated. Scientific understanding, it is argued, is all very well, but what about the economics of it? Genetic makeovers may soon be a reality, but won8217;t it merely create yet another hierarchy in an increasingly unequal world? Are we, then, facing the prospect of a teeny-tiny genetic elite and a huge genetic underclass? And what of the nature versus nurture query? Clearly, mankind is called upon to contemplate much more the rosy prospect of an early genetic cure for afflictions like Alzheimer8217;s. Get set for the brave new world.