14/5/2015 Panelists offer pros and cons of 'genomic revolution' | Cornell Chronicle

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May 14, 2015

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Lindsay France/University Photography

Adam Boyko, left, Charles Aquadro, Margaret Smith, Rory Todhunter, Philip

Reilly and Stephen Hilgartner discuss The Genomic Revolution: How DNA

Information Is Changing Our Lives, at a Charter Day Weekend Panel April 26.

April 27, 2015

Panelists offer pros and cons of 'genomic revolution'

By Linda B. Glaser

Hip dysplasia, Tay-Sachs,

spina bifida: such genetic

mutations can wreak havoc

on our lives. Technological

advances have made

identifying these and other

harmful genetic variations

possible, but greater

information also has

resulted in significant

challenges. Parents are

now faced with the

question, "What constitutes

a mutation of sufficient

severity that the fetus is

unwanted?"

A panel of experts explored

this and other questions at a Charter Day Weekend panel, The Genomic Revolution: How DNA

Information Is Changing Our Lives, moderated by Stephen Hilgartner 83, Ph.D. 88, professor of

science and technology studies, April 26.

Every one of us should care about our genome, said Charles Aquadro, director of the Cornell

Center for Comparative and Population Genomics (3CPG) and professor of molecular biology and

genetics in the College of Arts and Sciences, because knowing something about your genome can

have a big impact on the quality of your life. For example, because of a genetic variant, more than

half the worlds population cant digest milk past the nursing age.

Genetic testing is already a part of our world, said Aquadro. For example, he noted that all NCAA

athletes including 10 percent of Cornell students are required to undergo genetic testing for

sickle cell trait, a result of several training deaths being traced to the disease. But researchers also

have discovered a surprisingly positive side to the sickle cell gene: It conveys protection against

malaria.

Currently, the approach to newborn genetic screening is to only test if there is a meaningful

intervention available to help the child, said Dr. Philip Reilly 69, a partner in Third Rock Ventures.

But the rapid improvements in DNA sequencing have set the technological stage for a massive

increase in carrier testing and prenatal screening. In 1972, for example, the Jewish community

adopted Tay-Sachs screening for potential marriage partners; since then, Tay-Sachs in that

population has fallen 95 percent.

Reilly asked, Will we adopt a new eugenics, consumer-driven and technologically enabled? Will

we be seduced by DNA testing, not only to avoid diseases in children but to seek superior traits?

Genomic technologies already have led to superior crops that are insect-, herbicide- and virus-

resistant, said Margaret Smith, Ph.D. 82, professor of plant breeding and genetics. Genetic

engineering has not, however, led to increased crop yield potential, a trait influenced by the entire

genomic structure of a plant.

Combining genomic knowledge with natural recombination of the built-in genetic code, said

Smith, is the more powerful approach, to understand better how crops work, and then breed

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plants that can sustainably meet future needs and grow more food on less arable land.

Humanity has been engaged in a vast genomics project for hundreds of years, noted Rory

Todhunter, Ph.D. 92, the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Professor of Surgery at the College

of Veterinary Medicine. We have designer dogs, cats, horses and chickens. The problem is that, in

selectively breeding animals, weve concentrated deleterious [genes].

The concentration of these problematic genes in purebred animals, however, has been a boon to

researchers. The Cornell Veterinary Biobank contains genetic information about more than 15,000

animals, information that is proving useful for animal as well as human medicine. Most of the

diseases and traits which weve mapped with these animals have human analogs, said

Todhunter.

Adam Boyko, assistant professor of biomedical sciences, said DNA sequencing has shown us that

humans and chimps share 98 percent of their genetic material.

Not only can we sequence the entire human genome, he noted, we also can sequence tumors and

RNA and we can sequence the past. Researchers have sequenced almost an entire Neanderthal

genome from a finger bone, as well as identifying a new human ancestor using a bone and a tooth.

Linda B. Glaser is a writer for the College of Arts and Sciences.