Presenting the determination of the sequence of the human genome as a great scientific breakthrough is an exaggeration
by David Lichtstein
About two weeks ago, scientists from the United States and England announced the completion of sequencing the human genome. Using methods from molecular biology and powerful computer programs, the researchers were able to identify the sequence of the approximately three and a half billion bases in the DNA molecules in all 23 pairs of chromosomes in the genome. The project, which lasted more than ten years while investing enormous resources, is undoubtedly an important achievement in science. What made his success possible was a combination of breakthroughs made in recent years in biotechnology, robotics and computer science. Determining the sequence, and making it information available to everyone, will save a lot of work in the future for researchers who want to know the structure of a particular gene. The researchers will be able to concentrate on determining the function of the gene and controlling its activity and skip the identification step that has already been done.
The end of the sequence determination project was celebrated with a large number of events and celebrations by scientists, businessmen and politicians and was accompanied by a long series of statements and superlatives about the essence of the find and its importance. What hasn't been said in the last two weeks? The completion of the project was compared to the moon landing and Darwin's theory of evolution, and was presented as the greatest scientific achievement not only of our time but of all human history. The achievement was described as a key factor in breakthroughs in the diagnosis and prevention of diseases, and of course in the cure of all diseases. In this context, all diseases were mentioned: starting with heart disease, going through hypertension and cancer and ending with depression and schizophrenia. The resulting image is that here comes the sequence and all the ills of this world are over, if not now then in two or three years. He went on to make one of the daily newspapers that stated that we had reached the "end of the age of biology".
These descriptions are not only inaccurate, they are as far from the truth as east is from west. The human being is made up of hundreds of thousands of organic substances that affect each other in a series of thousands of chemical reactions. These reactions are mediated by proteins (enzymes) produced by the approximately 100 genes in our body. The process of creating the proteins from the genes is continuously influenced by the hundreds of thousands of substances from which we are built. What makes us what we are is not our chemical composition alone but the constant communication between the different materials we are made of. Knowing some of the players, the genes, does not teach us about the form of interaction between the materials from which we are built; It will help us explore this interaction in the future.
The tremendous research in the last decade in molecular biology has undoubtedly resulted in real breakthroughs in our understanding of the human body. Among these we can mention the cracking of the DNA structure by Watson and Crick; the work of Tamin, Baltimore and their colleagues in the discovery of the reverse transcriptase enzyme; the discovery of the oncogenes by Bishop Wormus; The discovery of prions by Prosiner, and many other works. Unlike these works, which added new ideas and concepts to modern biology, determining the sequence of bases in DNA was fundamentally a technical work. By itself this work did not contribute any new concept and only constitutes a technical tool for future research use.
Determining the sequence of the bases in the human genome is similar to determining the sequence of notes in a musical piece. If we do not know the meaning of each note, which musical instrument it is intended for, and in general, that these are musical notes and not spoken language - the sequence in itself will not have much meaning. The distance between determining the basic sequence in the genome and understanding the process of life is similar to the distance between determining the sequence of notes in a musical piece and the pleasure we derive from listening to the piece. The achievement of determining the sequence of the human genome is extremely important and significant, but if it indicates something - it is not the end of the age of biology, but the beginning.
Prof. Lichtstein is the head of the Institute of Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University
{Appeared in Haaretz newspaper, 9/7/2000}
