Surf@home: CLICK TO GET IN ON THE GENOME BUZZ

(NOTE: This week's column features 7 genome related links that can be found at www.homestead.com/surfathome.)

A monumental achievement – that is what all the buzz has been about since June 26 when researchers at Celera Genomics, the Sanger Centre, the Whitehead Institute, and the National Institutes of Health announced the completion of the human genome map.

"Today, June 26, 2000 marks an historic point in the 100,000-year record of humanity." That is how Craig Venter, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer, Celera Genomics opened his remarks at The Human Genome Announcement made at The White House. "We have sequenced from the genomes of three females and two males who have identified themselves as Hispanic, Asian, Caucasian, or African American."

Since the start of the human genome project in the early 1990s, Compaq has been providing tools to handle the staggering amount of data and computing power necessary to decipher the 3.2 billion "base pairs" that make up the genome—all the genes and related DNA. Compaq proudly discusses its involvement with the project in the story Compaq Technology Enables the Completion of the Mapping of the Human Genome.

Carl B. Feldbaum, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), issued a statement regarding the completion of the full DNA sequence of the human genome that included a warning of the bioethics challenges that might lie ahead. His statement under the heading Human DNA Sequence Advances Biotech Research; Creates New Bioethics Challenges notes that "…as we learn more about our genome and ourselves, we will confront new bioethical issues involving privacy, discrimination and intellectual property. How we handle these issues will affect public acceptance of our efforts to use genetic information to improve human and animal health."

David Stevens executive director of the nation's largest group of Christian doctors, "with a mission to change hearts in healthcare" the Christian Medical Association said the association celebrated the mapping of the human genome as a breakthrough event but cautioned "…we must remember that knowledge can be abused and that the power to do good can too easily become the power to harm." Stevens also lamented the potential abuse of prenatal genetic screening in the article Genome Mapping is Cause For Celebration and Caution.

"Despite the claimed good of the Human Genome Project, President Clinton, in his endorsement of the project, has failed to warn America of any of its likely misuses," said Father Joseph Howard, director of the American Bioethics Advisory Commission, adding that one alarming concern of the Human Genome Project is utilitarian goals derived from misguided notions of "quality of life." According to Father Howard "Utilitarianism is a frequent form of faulty moral reasoning in our culture." Father Howards concerns are explained in the article "Expert warns of utilitarian outcome of human genome project."

If your prescription for genome information is left wanting after clicking on the above sites then you might want to visit the doctor for a shot of genome information overload at the special reports section of drkoop.com, a company led by Dr. C. Everett Koop, former U.S. Surgeon General. The section includes several stories, special links, and a poll that poses the question "If it were possible to find out how you were going to die through genetic screening, would you want to know?