Originally published August 30 2005
New discoveries mean that DNA doesn't have to be a disease factor, scientists say
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Scientists are discovering more about the "epigenome," a layer of biochemical reactions that turns genes on and off, and finding that they can use that information to predict, diagnose and prevent diseases.
By mapping the epigenome and linking it with genomic and health information, scientists believe they can develop better ways to predict, diagnose and treat disease.
"A new world is opening up, one that is so much more complex than the genomic world," said Moshe Szyf, an epigeneticist at Canada's McGill University.
In a few years, scientists hope that doctors, by looking at an individual's epigenome, will be able to detect cancer early and determine what treatments to use.
The same might be done for other diseases -- and as the effect of the environment on epigenetic change is better understood, people will be able to address the environmental aspects of health.
"Epigenetics is one of the fastest-moving areas of science, period," said Melanie Ehrlich, a Tulane University epigeneticist whose lab linked human cancer to epigenomic changes in 1983.
Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first epigenetic drug, azacitidine, which treats a form of leukemia by reactivating those genes.
To do that, scientists need a large-scale map that shows how epigenetic patterns relate to disease, said Steve Baylin, an epigeneticist at Johns Hopkins.
"We don't have the funding to do a comprehensive, large-scale epigenetics project," said Elise Feingold, a director of the National Human Genome Research Institute's ENCODE Project.
The lack of investment is somewhat reminiscent of the Human Genome Project's early struggles, when James Watson fought for government money.
"That was a lesson in how intellectual property should not be handled," said John Stamatoyannopoulos, founder of biopharmaceutical company Regulome.
The absence of patent sniping might diminish some of the urgency, but the upside is that the epigenomic map is free and available to anyone -- although only a tiny fraction has thus far been made.
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