HEALTHGenome research targets environmentally induced diseaseEnvironmental Genome Project researchers announce progress in efforts to identify specific genetic variations that make some people more susceptible to disease triggers.By Susan J. Landers, amednews staff. May 5, 2003. Washington -- Why don't all smokers get lung cancer? Why does one chemical plant worker contract leukemia while his co-worker doesn't? And in a world in which terrorism is attracting attention, why are some people more vulnerable to the nerve gas sarin than others? All of medicine would like to know the answers to those questions, and researchers at the Environmental Genome Project are in hot pursuit. The project's goal is to identify genetic variations that make individuals more susceptible to environmental agents, such as cigarette smoking, chemicals, pesticides or even terrorist agents. The effort is orchestrated by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C., one of the National Institutes of Health. The project, like its more famous sibling, the Human Genome Project, marked a milestone in April. While the Human Genome Project celebrated the completion of its genomic map, the environmental effort announced on April 16 that it had completed its first phase by resequencing and cataloging more than 200 environmentally responsive genes. The Environmental Genome Project, which began in 1998, has so far identified 554 candidate genes that influence or have a strong potential to influence human susceptibility to environmentally induced disease. Two more phases of resequencing are scheduled in the future. NIEHS researchers have characterized genes that confer susceptibility to cancer, heart disease, diabetes and asthma, the institute's director Kenneth Olden, PhD, announced during a conference held at the main NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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