Still Strange Territory
The publication last week of two maps of the human genome will advance medical science. Medications will be tailored to a patient’s genetic makeup, for example, and children at high risk of heart disease may be treated before illness can develop. However, the new DNA maps--one by private researchers at Celera Genomics Corp., the other by a group of publicly financed academics--lack the precision that breathless biotechnology investors had sought, and a lot of medical and commercial expectations ought to be scaled back.
Far from manuscripts illuminating the secrets of human development, the maps are incomplete strings of chemical codes that raise far more questions than they answer. The process of compiling them left even Celera’s normally boastful leader, Craig Venter, remarking that he felt like a “midget” staring at an unfathomably large world.
The humbling experience of producing the maps suggests several important lessons for public policymakers:
* Congress should continue to fund government gene research even when biotechnology entrepreneurs claim superior techniques. Two years ago, Celera announced it would use supercomputers to search for patterns in millions of small fragments and assemble a genome far more quickly than federal researchers building the genetic code one bit at a time. Some legislators suggested cutting National Institutes of Health funding for gene research, but Congress and the Clinton administration increased funding instead--wisely, it turns out. Celera ended up chucking its method and using data gathered by federal researchers.
* Science progresses most quickly when genetic information is shared, not hoarded. While Celera was able to acquire the federal gene map free, scientists wishing to peruse Celera’s gene map have to agree not to use the information for commercial profit. That restriction could prove stifling in an era when even scientists working for public universities are under pressure to use their research to develop medications or meet other commercial needs. Celera should make good on its promise to ease restrictions on its genetic data and to earn revenue instead by charging for its innovative gene-mapping software and by drawing up “cross-licensing agreements” that would protect Celera’s right to profit from its discoveries.
* The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should be more cautious about awarding a gene patent to any entrepreneur who doesn’t fully understand the gene’s function. The office has issued about 1,000 patents to companies that have identified human genes producing specific proteins. The patents give them exclusive rights to control research involving the proteins. The gene maps unveiled last week, however, show that many genes produce multiple proteins, casting doubt on the patent office’s system for determining gene ownership.
* Employers should refrain from genetic testing. The rudimentary nature of the new gene maps shows why such testing is inherently unfair: It discriminates against people with known genetic defects, while failing to recognize the increasingly apparent fact that such “defects,” many yet unknown, can be found in all humans.
In the end, the many humbling revelations of the gene mapping should guide the crafting of genetic policy to avoid such prideful abuses.
