Houston is epicenter of genomic advances
You say you want a revolution? For medicine and health care, it’s arriving thanks to decades of genetic research. As people are seeing in their doctors’ offices every day, we are better than ever at predicting, diagnosing, and treating diseases more precisely than ever. Advances in our understanding of the human genome are giving us crucial insights into how our bodies work and what happens when we get sick.
To be sure, we have a long way to go to realize the benefits of genetic and genomic research for people everywhere. Yet approaches are driving novel discoveries across the spectrum of biomedical research and yielding life-changing discoveries.
The Houston region is one great epicenter of these breakthroughs. Discoveries here power the global scientific and technology research communities, offering progress and even greater potential to patients and families around the globe and drive the area’s economy. These success stories thrive in part because of robust funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other federally funded scientific programs. They ensure these discoveries continue to improve our nation’s health, propel the economy, and keep the U.S. at the forefront of innovation.
Like many things in Texas, the influence of its biotechnology sector is enormous. Already, Houston alone is home to many biomedical employees, and the city continues to expand its collaborative 30-acre biomedical research campus developed jointly by the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical complex in the world; Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, the University of Texas Health Science Center and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Add to that thriving research communities in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio, as well as an expected 30,000 future jobs created and a $5.2 billion stimulus generated to the state.
It is fitting then that from Oct. 15-19, Houston will welcome another Texassized event: the world’s largest meeting of the global human genomics and genetic research community when nearly 9,000 genetic researchers and clinicians from nearly 80 countries will convene for the American Society of Human Genetics’ annual meeting. Attendees will explore and uncover the latest cuttingedge science in all areas of human genetics. While the meeting itself will generate millions of dollars in revenue for Houston, the real value is in the presentations shared, discussions held, and collaborations forged during this unique meeting.
For instance, early diagnosis of a disease can significantly increase the chance of successful treatment and genomics is able, increasingly, to detect risk of disease long before symptoms present. For example, work is underway to build databases of genetic cancer markers. Genetic sequencing of cancer tumors is helping not only to more accurately diagnose cancers but also to understand what causes them and what drugs could be used to target them, while efforts to understand family history and risk of cancers allowearlier detection. Increasingly, researchers are also zeroing in on genetic underpinnings of common disease and treatments, such as cardiovascular disease, pain management, mental health topics such as autism and forms of dementia, and much more.
While we are applying so much new knowledge in exciting ways, there is much more to understand. The human genome is a blueprint for life and health, built from more than 3 billion single “letters” to produce all biological functions. For some of us, one changed letter can transform a life. Increasingly though, we also study how the interactions and networks among thousands of those letters may have subtle but profound influences on the genetic underpinnings of disease, resilience to disease, and health.
Public funding and continuous legislative and community support are essential to fuel these innovations. Congress has recognized that scientific research is central to both human health and the economy. We are grateful for the investments made in biomedical research and scientific innovation, and we must keep them going at a robust level. The transformative impact of genetics research for health applications is profound. It represents the promise that will one day transform disease treatments and cures, much of it centered right here, in Houston.