Preventing illness will be revolutionized

Preventing illness will be revolutionized

BY B.J. ALMOND
Rice News staff

Within the next 10 to 12 years, the scientific tools should be available to sequence each person’s genome, create a picture of any health problems the individual is genetically predisposed to and engage in preventive efforts to avoid or minimize anticipated illnesses.

Photo by Jeff Fitlow

Kathleen Matthews, dean of the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Stewart Memorial Professor of Biochemistry, moderated a panel discussion on bioscience research and medicine in the genomic era featuring the presidents of the six institutions that comprise the Gulf Coast Consortium for Membrane Biology: from left, Jay Gogue, University of Houston; James Willerson, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston; Peter Traber, Baylor College of Medicine; John Stobo, The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston; John Mendelsohn, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center; and David Leebron, Rice University.

Leroy Hood, president of the Institute for Systems Biology, made that prediction at the fifth De Lange Conference held at Rice March 7-9. “If we look back in 10 to 15 years, we’ll see that we view medicine and biology in a very different way,” he said.

The catalyst for these stunning changes has been the Human Genome Project and its impact on systems biology — the study of all the networks in a cell and how changes in one system impact other systems. “It gave us a complete genetics parts list so we can see what’s happening to all genes in context of how systems change,” Hood said.

Illness arises from “disease-perturbed networks,” he explained. Such perturbed networks alter their patterns of gene expression, and these alterations can be detected in the blood, providing “molecular fingerprints of disease.”

These fingerprints render important information about a person’s health and disease. Diagnostic markers will help identify targets of therapy and prevention as researchers pursue a new approach to drug discovery and attempt to rewire the disease-perturbed networks.

“Prevention will be revolutionized,” Hood said, adding that nanotechnology tools will play a critical role in systems biology and predictive and preventive medicine of the future.

Such scientific and medical advances are likely to extend the average life span of humans by 10 to 20 years while reducing health-care costs enormously, Hood said.

A number of societal implications are inherent in such dramatic changes: “How will we treat old people who are creative and productive in their old age? How will physicians be properly trained?” Hood asked.

He was one of more than 20 national and international experts who spoke at the fifth De Lange Conference, the theme of which was “Frontiers of Medicine: Society, Pharmacology and Membrane Biology in the Genomic Era.” Nearly 500 scientists, graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral fellows, adults in continuing education and advanced high school students registered for three days of presentations and discussions centered around the changing role of medicine in society, the future of drug discovery, and research on the membrane proteins and lipids that form the drug-targeted boundary between cells and their environment.

The conference was co-sponsored by Rice University and the Gulf Coast Consortium (GCC) for Membrane Biology — a research collaboration among six institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, the University of Houston (UH), The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at Houston, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston.

The presidents of all six GCC institutions shared the stage for a panel discussion on bioscience research and medicine in the genomic era.

Jay Gogue, president of UH, addressed the issue of big science versus small science. “Both are very important to us – it’s not an either-or matter,” he said, noting that certain disciplines lend themselves to research by large, multidisciplinary teams while others are better at fostering innovation from individual scientists.

James Willerson, president of UTHSC, explained the challenges and potential of translational human stem cell research. He presented encouraging results from his studies in which stem cells removed from the bone marrow of patients with heart failure were reinjected into their hearts, and he noted that he is lobbying for a Houston-based center on adult stem cell research.

Baylor President Peter Traber focused on training the next generation of translational researchers. He announced that this fall six Baylor students who are dedicated to laboratory science will enter a new Ph.D. program in translational biology and molecular medicine that exposes them to patient settings to foster practical applications of their work.

UTMB President John Stobo discussed the role of academic health centers in responding to bioterrorism and emerging diseases. Training student clinicians to recognize many diseases can help quickly manage a public health crisis like the SARS outbreak. Rapid sequencing technology in scientists’ labs can accurately identify the dangerous infectious microorganism.
John Mendelsohn, president of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, shared progress in the early detection of disease. New molecular imaging technologies are making it possible to measure what’s happening to tumors at the molecular level, enabling physicians to select the right therapy to target the abnormalities of a particular tumor.

Rice President David Leebron discussed social issues that the genomic era has created. Should a genetic predisposition to disease hinder a person’s access to insurance and employment? Will the emphasis of medical liability cases shift from mistreatment to failure to diagnose and prevent? Where will people draw the line regarding ability to genetically design their offspring?

The presidents’ panel was part of a series of presentations geared toward the general public and scientists interested in the implications and challenges society faces as a result of rapid progress in biomedical science. Also part of that series was a lecture by Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, who discussed the evolving relationship of science and society. He noted that as science encroaches more closely on heavily value-laden issues, members of the public want a stronger role in both the regulation of science and the shaping of the research agenda. “There is a growing divide between science and society,” he said. “We need to close it.” He encouraged scientists to practice “active listening” and engage with the public to learn more about their concerns about science and technology.

The second and third days of the conference were geared more toward a scientific audience. Presentations focused primarily on membrane biology, with topics ranging from receptors that signal changing conditions in a cell’s environment and channels that allow molecules to cross membranes, to the molecular biology and genetics of the biological processes leading to
thermosensation and hearing.

All presentations from the De Lange Conference will be archived online at <www.delange.rice.edu> for the benefit of Rice students, faculty and staff and others who were unable to attend.

The conference is supported by Rice’s De Lange Endowment, which was given by C.M. Hudspeth and his wife, Demaris, in memory of her parents, Albert and Demaris De Lange.

James Pomerantz, professor of psychology and director of Scientia, the institute that has assumed responsibility for planning the De Lange Conference, expressed gratitude to the Hudspeths for their generosity. He also acknowledged the conference co-chairs: Michael Gustin, associate professor of biochemistry and cell biology at Rice; and John Spudich, professor and the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston.

Additional conference supporters were U.K. Science and Technology, the British Consulate General of Houston, the Center for Membrane Biology at UTHSC and Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.