A major medical breakthrough out of St. Louis is an uplifting development for Missouri, a state that too often makes news for its attempts to limit scientific research.
Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis report that they decoded all the genes of a leukemia patient and identified mutations that may have caused or aided the disease. The first-ever genetic map of DNA taken from cancer cells moves medicine a step closer to “personalized genomics.”
Richard K. Wilson, director of Washington University’s Genome Sequencing Center, described a scenario in which scientists may be able to quickly analyze a patient’s DNA sequencing and recommend drug therapy to combat the particular mutations.
And more genetic decoding—made easier and less expensive by recent technological advances—will provide important clues about what happens in cells when cancer takes hold and progresses.
Prominent researchers are heralding the breakthrough. A cancer specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York described it in The New York Times as a “tour de force.”
Bill Neaves, chief executive officer of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, said the discovery “highlights the pioneering role of Washington University … in the search for smarter ways of treating a cancer patient’s particular disease.”
The Stowers Institute also is engaging in gene-based research with the goal of developing therapies tailored to individual patients, Neaves said.
“It is gratifying to see the first comprehensive sequencing of a cancer patient’s genome occur here in Missouri,” he said.
Yes it is. After the destructive attempts to ban a form of embryonic stem cell research in the state, it is profoundly satisfying to see Missouri emerge as the site of a breakthrough.
The good news out of St. Louis is all the more reason for the Missouri legislature and Governor-elect Jay Nixon to strengthen the state’s support for higher education and scientific research.
Delicious
Digg
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
is irrelevant to this release of information, Barb. You are trying to connect the dots to suit your agenda again.
Genes may be the new magic bullet.
It is becoming clearer than ever that we are not destined to live with the genetic inheritance of our parents and ancestors. First it was announced by Dr. Sinclair at Harvard that transmax resveratrol, a commercial extract of a red wine molecule by biotivia was able to switch on the SirT1 anti-aging gene and prevent the normal diseases of aging. Then scientists reported that a drug called Aircar that had been around for decades is capable or making sedentary mice into olympic contenders by modifying their muscles and increasing their endurance. Soon after that Harvard announced a way to create customized stem cells to treat specific diseases. In ten years we will hopefully wean ourselves from synthetic drugs by either preventing cancer and other fatal diseases or treating disease by modifying our body's natural defense systems through up regulating the appropriate genes.
No Connection...
just Ms. Shelly's political agenda coming through... maybe she's one of the 50. One can hope!!!
What's the connection?
Please explain how embryonic stem cell research had anything to do with this breakthrough. Embryonic stem cell research is a drain of resources and money that has yet to produce any results. The money spent on embryonic stem cell research would be better spent on DNA research, which resulted in this breakthrough, and in adult stem research which has made numerous advances in the United States and other countries.