The human genome project completion announcement by Bill Clinton

 

PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST SURVEY OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME Hails Public and Private Efforts Leading to This Historic Achievement

<span>                    THE WHITE HOUSE</span>

<span>               Office of the Press Secretary</span>

___________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release<span>                                       June 25, 2000</span>

<span>          </span><span style="font-size: 11pt">PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">                     SURVEY OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">   Hails Public and Private Efforts Leading to This Historic Achievement</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">                               June 26, 2000</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Today, at a historic White House event with British Prime Minister Tony</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Blair, President Clinton announced that the international Human Genome</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Project and Celera Genomics Corporation have both completed an initial</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">sequencing of the human genome -- the genetic blueprint for human beings.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">He congratulated the scientists working in both the public and private</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">sectors on this landmark achievement, which promises to lead to a new era</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">of molecular medicine, an era that will bring new ways to prevent,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">diagnose, treat and cure disease. The President pledged to continue and</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">accelerate the United States' commitment to helping translate this</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">blueprint into novel healthcare strategies and therapies. He will</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">underscore that this genetic information must never be used to stigmatize</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">or discriminate against any individual or group. Our scientific advances</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">must always incorporate our most cherished values, and the privacy of this</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">new information must be protected.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">DECODING THE HUMAN GENOME WILL LEAD TO NEW WAYS TO PREVENT, DIAGNOSE,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">TREAT, AND CURE DISEASE. Alterations in our genes are responsible for an</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">estimated 5000 clearly hereditary diseases, such as Huntington's disease,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia, and influence the development of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">thousands of other diseases. Before the advent of the Human Genome</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Project, a joint project of HHS, DOE, and international partners in the</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, China, connecting a gene with a</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">disease was a slow, arduous, painstaking, and frequently imprecise process.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Today, genes are discovered and described within days. For example, in</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">1989, scientists found the gene for cystic fibrosis after a 9-year search;</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">eight years later, largely because of the coordinated efforts of the Human</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Genome Project, a gene for Parkinson's disease was mapped in only 9 days.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Now, scientists will be able to use the working draft of the human genome</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">to:</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Alert patients that they are at risk for certain diseases. Once</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">scientists discover which DNA sequence changes in a gene can cause disease,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">healthy people can be tested to see whether they risk developing conditions</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">such as diabetes or prostate cancer later in life. In many cases, this</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">advance warning can be a cue to start a vigilant screening program, to take</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">preventive medicines, or to make diet or lifestyle changes that may prevent</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">the disease.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Reliably predict the course of disease. Diagnosing ailments more</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">precisely will lead to more reliable predictions about the course of a</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">disease. For example, a genetic fingerprint will allow doctors treating</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">prostate cancer to predict how aggressive a tumor will be. New genetic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">information will help patients and doctors weigh the risks and benefits of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">different treatments.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Precisely diagnose disease and ensure the most effective treatment is</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">used. Genetic analysis allows us to classify diseases, such as colon</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">cancer and skin cancer, into more defined categories. These improved</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">classifications will eventually allow scientists to tailor drugs for</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">patients whose individual response can be predicted by genetic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">fingerprinting. For example, cancer patients facing chemotherapy could</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">receive a genetic fingerprint of their tumor that would predict which</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">chemotherapy choices are most likely to be effective, leading to fewer side</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">effects from the treatment and improved prognoses.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Developing new treatments at the molecular level.   Drug design guided by</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">an understanding of how genes work and knowledge of exactly what happens at</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">the molecular level to cause disease, will lead to more effective</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">therapies. In many cases, rather than trying to replace a gene, it may be</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">more effective and simpler to replace a defective gene's protein product.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Alternatively, it may be possible to administer a small molecule that would</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">interact with the protein to change its behavior. This is the strategy</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">behind a drug in development for chronic myelogenous leukemia, which</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">targets the genetic flaw causing the disease. It attaches to the abnormal</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">protein caused by the genetic flaw and blocks its activity. In preliminary</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">tests, blood counts returned to normal in all patients treated with the</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">drug.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT REPRESENTS THE STARTING POINT FOR A NEW ERA OF GENETIC</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">MEDICINE. The sequence represents only the first step in the full decoding</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">of the genome, because most of the individual genes and their specific</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">functions must still be deciphered and understood. This research has</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">begun, and already, tens of thousands of genes have been identified,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">including some related to deafness, kidney disease, breast cancer,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">hereditary skeletal disorders, hemorrhagic stroke and diabetes, thus</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">advancing the work of researchers worldwide at a rate that would have</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">impossible without these data. The Human Genome Project, which completed</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">its version of the working draft two years ahead of schedule and under</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">budget, will continue its longstanding practice of making all of its</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">sequencing data available to public and privately funded researchers</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">worldwide at no cost. Celera Genomics, which makes its sequencing data</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">available by subscription, will also make its version of the consensus</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">human genome sequence available to non-subscribers upon publication.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">PRESIDENT CLINTON PLEDGES STRONG SUPPORT FOR GENETIC RESEARCH BY BOTH THE</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS. President Clinton reiterated the commitment of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">the United States to robust Federal support for basic scientific research</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">facilitating medical application of the science. President Clinton also</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">stated his support for a strong structure to review the medical, ethical</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">and other issues presented by the expected new power of genetic medicine,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">building on the multi-million dollar investment the Human Genome Project</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">already makes in research on the social, ethical and legal implications of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">this work. He recognized that research and development by biotechnology</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">companies will be key to the translation of human genome sequence data into</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">useful, new healthcare products and pledged to strengthen a business</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">environment that will spur research and development in this vital sector.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">The President also reaffirmed his support for patenting genetic discoveries</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">that have substantial and credible uses. By protecting and rewarding</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">investment in research, consistent with current law, this policy of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">intellectual property protection will promote rapid conversion of basic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">knowledge into useful applications, while at the same time allowing a</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">maximum free flow of basic scientific information.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT BUILDS ON THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION'S STRONG</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING PRIVATE GENETIC INFORMATION. Since 1997, the</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">President and Vice President have called for legislation that will</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">guarantee that Americans who are self-employed or otherwise buy health</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">insurance themselves will not lose or be denied that health insurance</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">because of their genetic makeup. Last winter, President Clinton signed an</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">executive order that prohibits every civilian Federal Department and agency</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">from using genetic information in any hiring or promotion action. This</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">historic action prevented critical information from genetic tests used to</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">help predict, prevent, and treat diseases, from being used against Federal</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">employees. In addition, President Clinton has endorsed the Genetic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance and Employment Act of 1999,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">introduced by Senator Daschle and Congresswoman Slaughter, that will extend</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">these employment protections to the private sector and finish the job of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">helping to extend protections to individuals purchasing health insurance,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">begun with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.</span>

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