New Cancer-Blocking Gene Identified
The Human Genome Project has begun to spawn some remarkable findings that may soon revolutionize the way we treat cancer and other currently life-threatening diseases.
As one of the most recent examples, a team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health has just identified a new gene that appears to inhibit the growth of certain cancers.
Writing in the journal Nature Genetics, Dr. Jean Zenklusen and colleagues dubbed their newly found "tumor suppressor gene" ST7. It joins about 30 previously identified cancer-inhibiting genes; researchers believe there may be hundreds more.
Tumor suppressor genes act like brakes to regulate the growth and multiplication of normal cells. However, when they are missing or not working properly, cells can become cancerous and grow out of control. The ST7 gene appears to specifically regulate the production of new blood vessels, they wrote, which are necessary for tumors to survive.
Zenklusen's team believes that the ST7 gene, which they located on chromosome 7, may be involved in a wide range of cancers, including breast, colon. ovarian and liver cancers, among others. But it does not appear to be involved in lymphomas, they said, which are cancers that do not require the growth of new blood vessels.
The researchers lauded data from the Human Genome Project, which they said was essential to their finding of the ST7 gene. It highlighted the actual chromosome on which ST7 was eventually found, and provided a map of gene sequences already identified in the region.
In a statement to the press, Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, called their success in identifying the ST7 gene "an excellent example of how individual researchers, aided by the availability of the near-complete sequence of the human genome, can make major advances in our knowledge of the genetic basis of disease in a matter of a few years or less."
Will the spectacular advances in sequencing the human genome mean that we will finally have a cure for cancer? Not yet, according to Collins. Possibly not even in the next decade. But the advances will become more frequent and spectacular in the coming years.
Collins and Dr. J. Craig Venter, the president of Celera Genomics, recently discussed the incredible progress that is being made in mapping the human genetic code. Collins heads the federal government's DNA mapping program, while Venter is his primary counterpart in the private sector.
Within the next decade, they both agree, scientists will have a much better understanding of the major genetic factors that cause certain inherited diseases such as some cancers, diabetes and lupus. And once we have this understanding, they say, drugs will soon follow to target specific diseases in a remarkably specific-and highly effective-fashion.
Both Collins and Venter believe that the complete sequencing of the entire human genome will be accomplished within three years. And each of their efforts appear to be within mere months of completing broad drafts covering about 90 percent of the sequence.
The most current findings of both groups were simultaneously published in February 2001 issues of the journals Nature (The Human Genome Project) and Science (Celera Genomics).
"The consequences are going to be enormous," said Collins. He forecasts that as many as a dozen accurate, predictive genetic tests for specific diseases will be perfected by 2010. Along with them, he said, will come individually tailored prevention strategies regarding nutrition, health practices and even genetically based vaccines.
SOURCES:
Nature Genetics, April 2001; 27
National Human Genome Research Institute (http://www.nhgri.nih.gov)
Science, February 16, 2001; 291:1304-1351
Nature, February 15, 2001; 409:860-921
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