Dr. Michael Hayden, Killiam professor at the University of British Columbia and director of the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics
July 8, 2010
Megan Ogilvie
HEALTH REPORTER
The prominent expert in human genetics can clearly recall the hype that swirled around the first map of the human genome:
“In talks he made to Congress that year, Francis Collins (leader of the Human Genome Project), said by the year 2010 genetic tests would be in existence for many common conditions and that primary-care providers would be practising genetic medicine on a daily basis…Those hopes were not fulfilled.”
But although those particular expectations dimmed, Hayden says new ones have emerged, spurred by rapid advances in gene sequencing technology.
In the last decade, the cost of sequencing the human genome has gone from $3 billion to just several thousand dollars, and the time it takes to sequence a genome has dropped from 15 years to only a few weeks.
Hayden, who spoke to the Star from South Africa, says a decade of hindsight has taught scientists that knowing the sequence of human DNA is just one part of the story. It is also important to know how that gene is expressed and how environmental factors can influence that expression.
The confluence of new, faster technologies and scientists’ understanding of gene expression is where new discoveries will surface, he says.
“The integration with medicine and human biology is what I’m excited about today. And I think some of the hopes right now are more reasoned, more mature, more sober and have a much greater chance of being achieved.”
Should he be asked to reflect back on the second decade of discovery, Hayden says he will likely talk about how the human genome map led to the transformation of medicine.
He predicts pharmacogenomics — the tailoring of drug therapy to an individual’s DNA, or giving the right drug and the right dose to the right patient — will be routine.
“I think we will have technology that will allow doctors to get the sequence of a patient at the bedside and before treating the doctor will be able to say, ‘We know you have 10 times the risk of x-side effect if you take this drug based on your genotype and therefore we will modify therapy,’” he says. “I think pharmacogenomics will be very much part of all aspects of medicine.”
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