Originally published January 16 2006
Cancer scientists propose new project that would study the human epigenome
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Peter A. Jones, president of the American Association for Cancer Research and director of the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Southern California, talks about the Human Epigenome Project and its importance to the future of healthcare.
Although the human genome was sequenced more than five years ago, it can provide scientists with comparatively few clues to the origins and treatment of disease.
The epigenome consists of chemical "amendments" to strings of DNA that spell out the human genetic code.
Now, an international group of 40 leading cancer scientists are proposing a new effort -- the Human Epigenome Project -- to map these chemical modifications.
Knowing that will allow us to have new understanding of stem cell biology, the process of aging, the process of cancer development and more," he said.
The epigenome stands at the intersection between the genome and the environment in the cell, Jones explained.
"In cancer, these epigenetic changes shut down genes and switch them off so that they cannot be used, and this contributes to human cancer development," he said.
"Most of those changes you cannot see if you just sequence DNA."
Mapping the epigenome is also important for developing new therapies, Jones noted.
"The way the genes are organized can contribute to mental disease," he said.
Jones also noted that differences in stem cells are really differences in epigenetic states.
"Right now we have defined the hardware part of the genome," said Randy Jirtle, a professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center.
Jirtle believes the interaction between the early environment of an infant and his or her DNA is affected by the epigenome and establishes the potential for many diseases that develop later in life.
In addition to the Human Epigenome Project, the National Cancer Institute and the National Human Genome Research Institute announced that they are beginning an effort to speed up understanding of the molecular basis of cancer, according to a statement from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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