Project Tracks Genes That Cause Disease
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — Duke University and genetic researcher J. Craig Venter are joining forces to search for the genes that cause major diseases in hopes of treating them before they arise.
The collaboration announced Thursday between Duke and Venter’s Center for the Advancement of Genomics marks one of the first efforts to use the human genome to predict diseases such as heart disease and cancer and offer treatment before they occur.
Scientists at Venter’s research center will use genetic data from Duke patients to try to isolate the DNA segments responsible for illnesses.
The project will cost Duke and Venter’s lab several million dollars and will need upward of five years to produce results, said Dr. Ralph Snyderman, president of the Duke University Health System.
Venter said he is close to reaching a similar agreement with his alma mater, the University of California, San Diego.
He formed his research institute in Rockville last year after previously heading Celera Genomics, which spent millions of dollars and several years to sequence the human genome.
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