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by Uvini Atukorala, National Science Foundation

A seminar on the utilization of genome data for the development of new diagnostics and vaccines was held recently at the National Science Foundation (NSF) which was organized by the NSF in collaboration with the recently launched 'Genetech', the first genetechnology company in Sri Lanka.

The highlight of the seminar was the presentation by Dr. Malcom Gardner who is the first author of the recent research paper based on sequencing of the genome of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum which was published in Nature 2002. Dr. Ruobing Wang from the same research group also delivered a very informative lecture. There were two other speakers, Dr. Maya Gunasekera of Genetech and Prof. Priyani Amerasinghe of the University of Peradeniya.

The Chairman, NSF, Prof Ranjan Ramasamy, delivering the welcome address noted that so far, about 8000 genome sequences are known for organisms ranging from viruses to man. This great achievement was possible by developing machines for automated sequencing for which two institutes namely the Sanger Institute in the UK and the Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in the USA are at the forefront.

He emphasized the importance of utilizing this enormous wealth of data to improve health, agriculture production, etc. Prof Ramasamy also noted that this seminar is timely because the National Science Foundation is in the process of examining aspects of human genome research including the ethical considerations, human dignity and rights.He also drew attention to the international controversy surrounding the patenting of human gene sequences.

Dr. Gardner's lecture was on 'Genome Sequence of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum'. In his introductory speech he briefly mentioned the present situation of malaria, emphasizing that nearly 40% of the world population is at risk. He said that the P.falciparum genome project was started in 1996 and the whole sequence was found using the shotgun method. He also described the scientific basis of the genomic data, which was very useful for scientists working in that field. According to Dr. Gardner, upto now nearly 98% of the sequence has been found. He also provided the gathering with information on the network operating at TIGR in coordinating genomic data.

'Genomes to vaccines: Development of high throughput platform for antigenic discovery' was Dr. Ruobing Wang's topic. She spoke on malaria vaccines and pointed out there are two main types of vaccines - one to prevent the parasite in liver cells and the other to prevent disease caused by infection of red blood cells.

Her lecture was mainly on DNA vaccines for malaria. She has done much research in that area and shared some of her findings with those present. She had discovered that T-cell responses were induced by DNA vaccination but not antibody responses. She suggested that multivalent vaccines might be required for protection. She further stated that high throughput in vitro screening system will be needed to accelerate the antigen discovery for sub unit vaccines.

'Cracking the Human Genome and the Genomics' was the topic of Dr Maya Gunasekara, Chief Executive of 'Genetech'. She defined 'genomics' as the analysis of genomes of organisms and went on to describe how a genome could be sequenced. She presented the historical background of genetic studies and provided very informative facts on the human genome project, which was initiated in 1990 by the international genome sequencing consortium with the involvement of TIGR and the Sanger Institute. The first draft sequence was found in 2001. The size of the human genome is about 3 billion base pairs and it is 25 times greater than any other organism sequenced so far. It is 99.9% identical to the all over make up and differs 0.1% between individuals.

When a complete sequence of an organism is obtained, it provides new insights into evolutionary trends and relationships among various groups of organisms, the biochemical pathways of organisms, various proteins responsible for diseases and symptoms, designing and production of drugs, development of diagnostic kits and overall health care. Knowledge on genome sequence data, which could be utilized in this post genomic era, creates opportunities for biotechnology companies to find solutions to diseases, novel methods for early diagnosis and means of preventing diseases.

Dr Maya Gunasekara emphasized the applications of genomic data. She stated that genetic disorders could now be detected based on DNA/RNA data. Some examples of such diseases are Adenosine deaminase deficiency, Hemophilia, Phenylketonuria and Hematochromatosis, which need early detection and diagnosis to minimize the adverse effects. Genome sequence data can be used for the treatment of cancer as well.

The 'DNA chip' is one of the most versatile tools that can be expected from genomic studies. The DNA chip carries a lot of different DNA sequences, each specific to different genetic disorders. Explaining the future aspects of gene technology, Dr Gunasekara said this DNA chip could do wonders in keeping the human population healthy. From a sample of a drop of blood, the DNA chip could provide evidence on possible genetic disorders, infectious diseases and much more including the DNA profile of that organism. It could also help in the new generation of therapeutics, production of proteins and vaccines and blocking of harmful diseases by replacing harmful genes with normal genes.

Furthermore, this knowledge on genomics could be applied to other fields such as environment protection, agriculture etc.

Prof. Priyani Amerasinghe spoke on 'Vaccines and Diagnostics in relation to Sri Lanka'. She stated that the 3D structure and function of some proteins could be identified from genomics. Protein chips could be developed using this data and vaccine targets could also be identified. She concentrated on the positive impact of this to Sri Lanka.

Prof Amerasinghe elaborated on current health issues, current strategies and the goals of the health sector. She made special reference to vaccines and diagnostics, stating that vaccines for malaria and anti-rabies, Japanese Encephalitis and Hepatitis B should also be considered.

Since the NSF had expressed an interest last year on what research areas in biotechnology should be considered for further development, Prof Amerasinghe also noted the potential of areas such as eradication and containment, production of cost effective and safer vaccines, development and commercialization of rapid, reliable and cost effective diagnostic kits for communicable and non communicable diseases.

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