|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
As the Director of the Human Genome Project, Francis Collins may well go down as one of the most important figures in the history of medicine and health.
Though his name is not widely known outside of the scientific community, Collins' work (and the work of his team) laid the groundwork for enormous advances in understanding the cause and nature of disease and, with that knowledge, the tools to eradicate disease.
Simply put, the Human Genome Project provided the world with an "instruction manual" to human genetics. Armed with a fully mapped guide to the human genome, scientists have already begun the process of looking into the nature of health and disease. The work of the Human Genome Project has already given science profound insights into the nature of such diseases as cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington's disease, adult acute leukemia and diabetes.
The implications for the future are boundless. Beyond merely giving us better tools to recognize and diagnose disease, the Human Genome may provide ways to see what diseases are "programmed" into individuals and allow doctors to ambush the disease, eliminating it long before the first symptoms would materialize.
Collins, while taking great pride in his work, is quick to point out that he is only one individual in a team consisting of approximately 1000 researchers worldwide. No one man could have begun to tackle the huge job of the Human Genome Project. But only one man was there to lead it all-Francis Collins.
"But this is, I think, one of the most exciting moments in all of science, Collins said. "We have only the faintest glimmer of what a lot of this information is really telling us."
|
|
|
|
|
|
