The Human Genome Project

It has been called 21st century science in a moral dark age. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair announced the completion of the first working draft of the human genome sequence in June last year. Alongside those who were anticipating wonderful new medical advances in the near future were many who were pondering what new atrocities would be committed in the name of science. At a time when there is no consensus as to what a human person is, for what purpose will the human ‘book of life’ be used?

Before we debate the value of the Human Genome Project, it is helpful to clarify what it actually is. The Human Genome Project is an international research collaboration which was created with the aim of producing a map of human chromosomes and determining the complete chemical sequence of the DNA for humans and some other organisms. It officially commenced in 1990 and its goal of producing a map of the entire human genome reached a milestone ahead of schedule with the publication of the first drafts of the human genetic blueprint in February 2001. This represents 90% of the sequence, the remainder is expected to take a couple of years to complete.

The rationale behind the project was simple. At a time when so many common diseases remain incurable despite our best efforts to find a remedy, genetics represents our most promising way forward. Most diseases come about as a result of an interaction between hereditary factors and the environment, in varying degrees. Even a disease such as cystic fibrosis, which is largely genetic, will have its course altered by factors in the environment such as medical treatment and nutrition. Trauma is probably the only entirely environmentally caused ‘illness’. Diseases affecting many of us, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, come about as a result of a 50-50 mix of environmental factors, many of which are unidentified, and hereditary factors, which are much more likely to become identified in the near future.

While we would increase our understanding of diseases by studying_the environmental factors, it is much easier to study the genetic side of the equation. It is also possible that we may not fully understand environmental risks anyway until we can assess the variability between each of us in terms of (genetic) susceptibility to them. We all carry damaged genes, so technically everyone can benefit from the advances in this area.

There are many levels on which Christians can respond to these issues. Let me address just one.

In the Gospels we see that Jesus spent much of his time on earth teaching and preaching and ‘healing every disease and sickness among the people’ (Matt 4:23). The Human Genome Project promises cures for people to whom we currently have nothing to offer. The Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research in the US is a Christian. Dr Francis Collins has suggested that the promise in this area of research for the alleviating of human suffering is so significantly great for medicine that the most unethical thing we could do right now is to slow it down.

This is not to say that there are no risks involved. We should not be naïve about the human tendency to sin. Genetic discrimination is already a reality in Australia. Christians need to be responsible in doing what they can to avoid misuse of this technology. It could be of great service to our society, but only if we have the ethical guidelines in place to control it. Western medicine has been of such service to humanity in the past. We aren't going to emulate Jesus' cure rate, but he has given us the wherewithal to keep trying.