New diagnostics and therapy era expected

Research into the human genome "heralds the arrival of a new era in therapeutics and diagnostics", according to a leading Irish research scientist.

This advance in human health research will bring new technologies to fight disease, according to Dr James McInerney, director of the Bioinformatics and Pharmacogenomics Laboratory at NUI Maynooth.

Ireland, he said, was "uniquely positioned" to become a leader in research making use of this information. "Currently there are fewer than 400 targets in the body that are used in drug therapy." The genome sequence will help identify many new targets and therapies.

The genome research findings were "extremely important," Prof Peter Whittaker, head of the biology department at NUI Maynooth, said yesterday.

"It really sets the scene for future developments. It is very important not to raise people's hopes too high at this stage as to what will come out of it and how quickly it will happen."

A note of caution was also advised by Ms Bernie Moran, development officer with the Huntington's Disease Association of Ireland. She said that there was a great need to regulate the use and application of the genetic technologies, particularly when they involved private information about a person's genetic make-up.

"I think some of the announcements need to be checked but all of it needs to be regulated," she said yesterday. "There is a high potential for money-making so we need to be concerned about whose word we take.

"It so badly needs regulation," she added. "In the meantime we have to rely on trust."

Dr Cliona Farrelly, research director at the Education and Research Centre at St Vincent's Hospital, described the findings as "massive", adding, "There is no doubt it is enormous. It is a really valuable resource for biomedical research."

The finding that humans possessed just a third of the number of genes originally estimated was noteworthy, she said. "It is very important because it really illustrates that the original theory that each gene produces only one protein is impossible."