The Human Genome Project

Perhaps overarching over all those things is the matter of education. We won't succeed in solving any of these dilemmas unless we have better information out there in front of people who are going to have to make decisions about themselves and their families. We need to work very hard on that. We can target particularly now, I believe, the K-12 educational system in a productive way, and many people are starting to work on that.

In your position as director of the National Center for Human Genome Research you are often asked to justify the cost of the project, which is estimated to be $3 billion over a 15-year period. How do you justify the cost of this international effort?
I believe the Human Genome Project is the most important organized scientific effort that humankind has ever mounted. I think this dwarfs other efforts of this sort, and I would include the exploration of space and the splitting of the atom. This is an investigation into ourselves. If [Alexander] Pope was right when he said, "The proper study of man is man," that's what this is about. This is historic.

We only have to do it once. We will have this blueprint read, laid out in front of us, once and for all. It will provide the substrate upon which all the future of biomedical research is carried out, and it is in fact being done for a very modest investment. That's another misconception, that this is a huge expenditure of money. The amount of money being spent on the Genome Project is 0.3% of the U.S. research budget. It is also an international effort, and I think that is an important feature of it, drawing countries together in their efforts to work side by side on this humanitarian effort to figure out where all the genes are and how they play a role in health and disease. When you put all those arguments together, it is almost impossible to imagine not doing this project and not investing in it.

To order materials and supplies from Carolina
Call: 1-800-334-5551.
Fax: 1-800-222-7112.
For Technical Help Call: 1-800-227-1150.

E-mail your comments and suggestions about Carolina Tips to powens@carolina.com.

Back to Tips...