November 11, 2002

Geneticist finds backing for original
sin in analysis of human DNA flaws
___By Bob Smietana
___Religion News Service
___CHICAGO (RNS)--Francis Collins believes in original sin. At least on the biological level.
___"The are no perfect human specimens at the DNA level," said Collins, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. "We are all walking around with a significant number of misspellings" in our DNA.
___Most people have 40 to 50 glitches in their DNA, said Collins, who oversees the Human Genome Project, a group of 20 research centers in six counties that published a draft of the human genome in February 2001. Most of those glitches never cause any problems, but a glitch in the wrong place or exposed to the wrong environment can be fatal, he said.
___Collins was in Chicago this summer to address the annual convention of the Christian Medical and Dental Association. Collins, who is a member of that group, said for the first time ever, human beings are able to understand the genome, which he called "our God-given instruction book."
___"It has been a wonderful privilege to be able to unravel the mystery of God's creation, to see things that humans have never seen before and that God knew all along," he explained.
___The most amazing part of the genome is its simplicity, he added, explaining that all the information is encoded in a simple alphabet of four letters--A,C,G and T for adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine--which spell out the 3 billion-character-long genome.
___"What still seems astounding to me is that one of those letters out of place in the wrong spot can cause a terrible disease," he said. "One out of 3 billion."
___Collins described the work of the genome project as "a bright light we can shine into the darkness of our ignorance about almost every disease" and predicted that within five to seven years, scientists will discover the genes responsible for ailments like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and heart disease. He argued that most of those ailments will be treated with pharmogenetics--drugs designed to address specific genes or DNA misspellings.
___One of these drugs, called Gloevec, is being used in clinical trials to treat chronic myeloid leukemia by targeting an abnormal protein that binds to a gene. Collins said the drug has proved more than 95 percent effective in treating patients "who had few options and were pretty close to the end."
___While the advances in understanding the human genome hold promise for treating people, there are problems. Most of the new techniques are expensive and may not be available to all people. And genetic information may be used to discriminate against people who have increased risk factors and who may have their health insurance cancelled or lose their jobs.
___"That isn't right," he said. "We all have these genetic glitches. We didn't pick them. This is not faith, it is not just, but it is possible in our system."

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