DIABETES DEVELOPMENT-NEW INSIGHT

Advances in biotechnology have enabled scientists to map out the genetic sequences in many living creatures including man. Genomic information is thought to be very useful for the drug industry for developing more effective medicines which eventually will replace many of the present generation formulations. Prediction of diseases is also possible if the genetic make up is known at individual levels. Once the predisposition of an individual is unraveled it becomes easier to monitor the blood profile to detect the disease at an early stage before it becomes "toxic". This is what has been demonstrated recently by one of the geneticists who performed the gene sequencing on himself and after finding that he is vulnerable to development of diabetes took extra precaution to monitor his blood for early signs of diabetes. Here are some details of the efforts of the scientist who proved how gene sequencing can help humanity.    

"HUMAN genome sequencing is already helping researchers find new treatments for illness. Now an unusual case study suggests that the benefits of sequencing may be enhanced in combination with detailed blood tests. Michael Snyder was both lead author and subject of a study that showed the medical promise of combining genomics and blood tests. The case involves Michael Snyder, a geneticist who was both the lead author and the subject of a study on genomics reported in the journal Cell. The study began with the sequencing of Dr. Snyder's genome, which showed that he was at high risk for Type 2 diabetes. Then the research team did extensive blood tests every two months or more, keeping track of 40,000 molecules in Dr. Snyder's cells. About midway into the 14-month study, analyses showed that Dr. Snyder had indeed developed diabetes. "My genome did predict I was at risk," he said, "and because I was watching out, I detected the illness pretty early." The research team monitored the molecular changes closely as the disease developed. The illness was treated successfully while in its early stages, long before it might have been if Dr. Snyder had relied on a conventional visit to the doctor. "This study is a landmark for personalized medicine," said Dr. Eric J. Topol, a professor of genomics at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., and author of "The Creative Destruction of Medicine." The study "is an unprecedented look at one person's biology, showing what can be accomplished in the future," he said. "This kind of granular information will one day allow doctors to manage illness in an altogether different and precise way." The business of personalized genomic medicine has long been expected to blossom as low-cost sequencing of the human genome becomes available from the many companies now working in the field. Currently, the price of human genome sequencing is typically about $4,000, said George M. Church, a genetics professor at Harvard Medical School. But within a year, he said, it could be down to $1,000 or even less. Dr. Snyder, a professor and chairman of the genetics department at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said he wasn't worried when his genome sequencing showed at the beginning of the study that he had a high risk for Type 2 diabetes. "The disease doesn't run in the family," he said, "and I'm a touch on the thin side, so I don't fit the usual stereotype." Still, he kept a close eye on his glucose levels. Then, in the midst of the study, he caught a cold. "I have two little kids," he explained. "They get sick periodically," passing their colds on to others. It was this viral infection that apparently prompted the onset of diabetes, possibly because of stress. "The cold was a bonus," Dr. Topol said. "We have not been generally associating viral infection with this type of diabetes. It is possible that the viral infection added additional stress."Dr. Snyder treated his diabetes through a change in diet — he eliminated desserts — and a doubling of his typical bike-riding regimen. He also returned to running. "It took about six months," he said, "but my glucose levels came back to normal, allowing me to avoid medication."

High cost of mapping the gene sequence may be a dampener, at least for the time being, in wide scale adoption of this diagnostic tool. But if the past trend is any indication the cost is bound to come down to some what affordable levels making it a popular technique for disease prediction. Probably future health assessment protocols may include gene sequencing also as one of the pre-requisites for deciding the healthiness of an individual. The experience of this scientist is really revealing as he, without any family history for diabetes, developed it after a simple viral infection, contracted from his children. Probably this is a lesson for every body that no one is immune to diabetes, in spite of apparently normal health, if the responsible gene shows the vulnerability.

V.H.POTTY
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