A genome scan for your doctor

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INDIVIDUALISED TREATMENT

With access to a person's genome and the variations in it, doctors

will be able to recommend prevention strategies based on the genetic

make up.

The day is not far when a visit to the doctor's clinic will entail a

genome scan for your ailments. This technology has been heralded as

the ultimate diagnostic tool. If you choose to have a genome scan, you

can have access to all your genetic data, sequenced, annotated and

complete with the list of diseases you are susceptible to. You can

actually keep this information with you; stored in some electronic

device; like a DVD. People working on this technology are sure that

very soon genome scanning will revolutionise the medical diagnostic

methods.

According to a group of scientists who participated at the conference

" The Future of DNA Sequencing: Advancing Toward the $1000 Genome " ,

genome scanning could be ready to use within five years. While some

companies like Amersham Bioscences are tweaking their existing

machinery to make them smaller and much faster for this purpose, other

companies like U. S. Genomics Inc. and VisiGen Biotechnologies Inc.

are using nanotechnology and bio-mimicking technologies to speed up

the process. These approaches will help the scientists to mimic the

intricate workings of the cellular structure.

US genomics

Using the ability to unwind long stretches of DNA and the power of a

laser scanner, US Genomics can scan the genome at the rate of 30

million letters per minute. This is a milestone when we compare the

speed of conventional technologies which can do only a million letters

in a day. But faster and cheaper scanning technology is not enough.

There should be a greater understanding of diseases, environment and

their association with genomic variations. Without this information,

the genome is like a map with no names on it.

New biomedical knowledge and analysis tools will enable medical

practitioners to interpret the different areas on the map, compare

them with each other, note the differences and finally provide a

personalised genomic profile. All humans have 99.9 percent genomes

which are identical. Therefore, efforts are made to look into the

remaining 0.1 percent, which is unique to each individual.

Individual reactions

These differences in each individual genome are what make some of us

more prone to diseases and help to know the effectiveness or side

effects of a particular drug. Using a chip arrayed with genetic

material to detect these differences, researchers can scan the entire

genome of an individual and record the distinctions in one experiment

alone.

This technology can aid in better diagnosis of diseases. With access

to a person's genome and the variations in it, doctors will be able to

recommend prevention strategies based on the genetic make up.

Accordingly, doctors would be able to prescribe drugs tailored made

for an individual. Thereby, increasing the effectiveness of the

medicines and minimising the adverse effects. A genome scan undertaken

early in life will help alert people of the risks of contracting

diseases like cancer, schizophrenia, cardiac problems etc. This way

people can take the necessary steps to prevent them. A genetic disease

triggered by environmental factors would be preventable by avoiding

exposure to the triggering agent. The existing diseases could be cured

in a better way.

The way scientists are working on genome scan technology, the day

doesn't seem far when it will become a routine test at the doctor's

clinic. Finally, a new paradigm in medical care will emerge, making

medical intervention both preventive and individualised.

Ashwin Naik

Vaatsalya Healthcare

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/jun272005/snt1148302005626.asp