The Era of 'Designer Drugs': The Human Genome Project

Ari Patrinos and Francis Collins combined forces in order to make the completion of the Human Genome Project possible with the fifteen year time frame. Ari Patrinos supervised the United States Department of Energy’s Human Genome Research. Francis Collins regulated the National Institute of Health National Human Genome Research Institute.

Besides the United States Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health, several universities across the United States were involved in the Project, along with various other countries. Although numerous other countries contributed to the global Project, research in the United Kingdom, China, France, Japan, and Germany played a more significant role.

In 1953, three significant people in modern genetics made a great discovery. With the finding of DNA’s double helix structure, researchers were now able to fully understand DNA. DNA’s double helix structure allowed other life sciences to be further explored. This structure was discovered by James Watson, Francis Crick, Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins.

The Sanger Centre in the United Kingdom contributed greatly to the human genome project. Thirty three percent of the work in progress genome was produced by the Centre. The other sixty percent was to be produced by the universities and research labs involved in the Project in the United States. While ninety percent of the still developing outline human genome was to be released by the year 2000, the outline was not officially published until February of 2001.

After discovering the location of three significant disease genes, Francis Collins became director of the National Institute of Health. These disease genes include those accountable for: Huntington’s disease, cystic fibro...

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...articular disease and design a prevention strategy for that disease.

Although much of pharmacogenetics is still in research, the genome sequence has encouraged the current practice in medicine. For example, HIV-positive individuals are tested to clarify vulnerability to the antiretroviral drug Abacabir. Abacabir reduces the quantity of HIV in the blood and the patient’s likelihood of acquiring AIDS. Another example of the use of pharmacogenetics in medicine is the testing of individuals to ascertain the genetic alteration of thiopurine S-methyltransferase, or TPMT. The recommended dosage of azathioprine, which is used to improve severe rheumatoid arthritis, is determined by the patient’s TPMT genetic variation. If unconverted azathioprine fabricates in the bone marrow, it can eradicate maturing white blood cells and can leave a patient susceptible to infection.