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2000 and beyond: 21st century medicine |
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Picture 32. Watson and Crick worked out that DNA has a double helix structure.
Wellcome Library, London. |
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Human genome project
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| Picture 33. The double helix of DNA. |
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The task was to find the sequence of DNA for every single gene in a complete set of human chromosomes. We call this sequence the human genome. It started in 1990 and saw unprecedented scientific collaboration between research laboratories in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Using highly automated analytical techniques, the task was completed in 2003, which was barely 50 years after Watson and Crick first described the double helix structure of DNA.
Some surprising discoveries were made. The instructions for an entire human is held in only 30-40,000 different genes and all but a few percent of these are common to our nearest relatives, the chimpanzees.
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| Genetics and medicine |
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The risk of developing many disorders, such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and heart disease, may well be influenced by our genetic make-up. Greater understanding of the human genome will direct the development of medicines to help treat and prevent diseases over the next hundred years. Advances in genetics will allow treatments to target the genes or specific proteins that cause disease. Gene therapies are being developed that aim to replace faulty genes and so reverse the effects of inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis. |
Ethics and medicine
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Picture 34. Human chromosomes stained with a fluorescent dye. The sequence of bases A, G, C and T hold the genetic information.
Wellcome Library, London. |
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Advances in medical science will not come without controversy.
- Technology has made genetic fingerprinting a routine task but how should this information be used?
- Individuals can be warned of diseases that they are likely to develop in older age but this profile could also be used to assess a person's suitability for insurance or employment. How can we protect the rights of the individual?
- Genetic engineering and stem cell therapies may provide cures for diseases such as cancer, leukaemia and Parkinson's but are these experiments ethical or not?
- Will the benefits outweigh the risks?
Throughout the ages, medicine has been influenced by the spiritual and superstitious beliefs of the day. Knowledge built up over the centuries has led to modern treatments that are based on a molecular understanding of how the body works. The ethical and moral concerns of modern society will continue to shape the development of new medicines and treatments.
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New challenges
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It is impossible to prevent all diseases. Bacteria are evolving resistance to antibiotics and viruses mutate to cause new infections such as the recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). As life expectancy rises, fresh challenges will emerge in the treatment of the elderly. One issue that medicine alone cannot tackle is to raise the living conditions of people throughout the world so that they do not suffer from diseases of poverty. As always, modern medicine will continue to face fresh challenges and find new solutions for the 21st Century.
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