The initial attraction of genomics was the assumption that knowing all the genes would lead to the discovery of thousands of new targets. And to some extent that has happened.The article goes on to qualify this pessimism—correctly I think—with the fact that (a) it can take up to 15 years for a new drug to clear clinical trials, and (b) most scientists agree that we're at the mere beginning of a revolution in medicine, the fruit of which will not all be borne at once.
But compared to the past, when targets tended to be discovered by academic scientists already studying a disease and its genetic context, the genome project provided companies with thousands of potential new targets all at once. Targets discovered this way, without years of academic research behind them, can require companies to spend years to understand the targets’ role in disease.
Showing posts with label human genome project. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human genome project. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
article on genomics
There was an article in the NYT the other day about progress and lack thereof in medicine in the past 10 years since the human genome was decoded.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
10 year Blue Brain documentary
I found this today via http://kurzweilai.net:
Henry Markram is attempting to reverse engineer an entire human brain, one neuron at a time. This piece is an introduction to director Noah Hutton's 10-year film-in-the-making that will chronicle the development of The Blue Brain Project, a landmark endeavor in modern neuroscience.
I think my favorite part of the mini documentary is the end where the music cuts out and you just hear the fans blowing in Blue Gene. So ominous!
I thought a task no less Herculean than modeling the human brain would elicit more enthusiasm from the people doing it, but I had to keep turning up the volume higher and higher. I've seen people speak with more enthusiasm about putting drywall up in a new housing development.
Still, this is one of those things like the Human Genome Project which, once completed, will usher in a revolution in medicine and (maybe far enough down the line) artificial intelligence. Of course people express skepticism over the Blue Brain project. The same thing happened with the Human Genome Project. "It's too complex." And then once it's done, they think "oh that wasn't such a big deal!"
On the other side you have people who are yahoos. I remember talking with an irritating relative of an ex years ago. He kept saying, "It's all genetic! Everything's genetic! Just wait until they finish the genome! It's all genetic!" I gently pointed out to him that the HGP had already been finished (I think this was in 2003). He kind of stared at me silently and then asked, "So what did they find?" "Well," I replied, "it's not all genetic!" You know, don't take up smoking again just yet!
Looking back, though, these are the major breakthroughs that make so many avenues of research and treatment possible. Just a few months ago researchers in San Diego sequenced lung cancer. Scientists will be able to sequence many more cancers over the course of the next few years. Less than 10 years after the sequencing of the human genome, personal genomics has become affordable. One can easily imagine a similar trajectory following the sequencing of the connectome.
Which is good news for those of us who are S-M-R-T, since it turns out the Alzheimers gene makes you a sharp crayon when you're younger. Ah, Mother Nature. Your sense of humor!
Bluebrain | Year One from Couple 3 Films on Vimeo.
Henry Markram is attempting to reverse engineer an entire human brain, one neuron at a time. This piece is an introduction to director Noah Hutton's 10-year film-in-the-making that will chronicle the development of The Blue Brain Project, a landmark endeavor in modern neuroscience.
I think my favorite part of the mini documentary is the end where the music cuts out and you just hear the fans blowing in Blue Gene. So ominous!
I thought a task no less Herculean than modeling the human brain would elicit more enthusiasm from the people doing it, but I had to keep turning up the volume higher and higher. I've seen people speak with more enthusiasm about putting drywall up in a new housing development.
Still, this is one of those things like the Human Genome Project which, once completed, will usher in a revolution in medicine and (maybe far enough down the line) artificial intelligence. Of course people express skepticism over the Blue Brain project. The same thing happened with the Human Genome Project. "It's too complex." And then once it's done, they think "oh that wasn't such a big deal!"
On the other side you have people who are yahoos. I remember talking with an irritating relative of an ex years ago. He kept saying, "It's all genetic! Everything's genetic! Just wait until they finish the genome! It's all genetic!" I gently pointed out to him that the HGP had already been finished (I think this was in 2003). He kind of stared at me silently and then asked, "So what did they find?" "Well," I replied, "it's not all genetic!" You know, don't take up smoking again just yet!
Looking back, though, these are the major breakthroughs that make so many avenues of research and treatment possible. Just a few months ago researchers in San Diego sequenced lung cancer. Scientists will be able to sequence many more cancers over the course of the next few years. Less than 10 years after the sequencing of the human genome, personal genomics has become affordable. One can easily imagine a similar trajectory following the sequencing of the connectome.
Which is good news for those of us who are S-M-R-T, since it turns out the Alzheimers gene makes you a sharp crayon when you're younger. Ah, Mother Nature. Your sense of humor!
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