Genetics / the anthrax genome may help to develop drugs but also to create a more violent bacteria
by Tamara Traubman
American geneticists deciphered the genome of the anthrax bacterium. The researchers hope that deciphering the genome - the sequence of the DNA units in which the instructions for the organism's function are found - will help in the development of effective drugs and vaccines against the disease.
The decoding was done by geneticists from the "Center for Genomic Research" - a non-profit organization located in the state of Maryland in the USA, and one of the pioneering centers in decoding genomes. According to the researchers, the new information may help the FBI find the unknown senders of the anthrax envelopes, which have so far caused the death of five people and the death of 12 others.
The biological terrorist attack brought about a change in the work procedures of the geneticists working at the Center for Genomic Research. In the past, when a genome was deciphered it was immediately published on a website known as the "Gene Bank". This is to share the information with the scientific community and enable the development of treatments based on the new knowledge. However, in the case of the anthrax, the researchers passed the information only to the US federal authorities.
The researchers announced that the disclosure of the information to the public will be delayed until after the authorities have examined the findings. But according to the few details published yesterday in the "New York Times" newspaper, it turns out that two bacteria were used by the researchers in the study. Both belong to the type of anthrax known as "Ames". It is a particularly violent strain, which federal authorities believe is the type that has been spread in recent attacks. One of the two bacteria was taken from an anthrax casing sent to Florida; The second was grown in a research laboratory in the USA.
Bracha Reger, professor of microbiology and immunology at Ben Gurion University and until recently the chief scientist of the Ministry of Health, says that the data - if it is published - "may have far-reaching consequences". Knowing the genetic sequence will make it possible to "play with the properties of the bacteria", and more easily engineer more lethal types (for example, those that are resistant to antibiotics). However, she adds that the information could also help develop new treatments and methods for diagnosing the disease.
The secrecy of the genetic sequence obtained from the decoding is especially troubling in light of the fact that the research was funded by the "National Science Foundation", which is a federal agency. "The foundation actually encouraged us to publish the information," said Dr. Claire Fraser, director of the Center for Genomic Research and one of the partners in the study, "but I will feel uncomfortable until the FBI and its research teams can go through the data." "There is nothing to hide", she added, "but I want everyone to feel that we act responsibly".
In the past, part of the genome of the Ames-type anthrax has already been deciphered; The decoded part consists of eight segments that are now used as the "fingerprint" for Ames identification. Indeed, the "Center for Disease Control and Prevention", which is responsible for the biological tests of the anthrax envelopes, stated that in various samples taken from the biological attack, they are trying to locate the eight areas, so that they can be classified as Ames-type anthrax.
Decoding the complete genome may allow scientists to obtain a more detailed "fingerprint" of the bacterium, for the purpose of making more accurate comparisons. Theoretically, in this way it would be possible to build a library of such fingerprints, which would allow researchers to detect minute differences within the Ames strains. Thus, if information is received that a bacterium was created in a certain laboratory, it is possible to compare it to other bacteria of unknown origin, and conclude that they came from the same source. Indeed, Fraser told the New York Times that she and her colleagues are now comparing the genomes of the two bacteria whose genetic cargo is being deciphered, to help FBI investigators glean clues—however small—as to the identity of the senders.
* The knowledge site was until the end of 2002 part of the IOL portal of the Haaretz group
