Gene quest begins anew, biotech pioneer says

Pace of health advances to be quickened, biotech audience told

By BRADLEY J. FIKES - Staff Writer | Tuesday, April 1, 2008 2:58 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- The quest to understand the human genome has begun anew, pioneering genetic researcher Craig Venter said to about 900 supporters of the local biotechnology industry Monday night.

More accurate research has refined the first genome map, announced eight years ago, and will spur an increasing number of discoveries to improve health and the environment, Venter said in his keynote address at the annual dinner of Biocom, the local life science trade organization.

There are about 40,000 employees in the life science community in San Diego County. They work at more than 700 companies, including biotech, medical device, diagnostic and technology companies and institutes.

Venter gained world fame when he raced the government-funded Human Genome Project to a draw in 2000 with his privately funded company, Celera. He's now attempting to get more accurate genetic data, and help assess the diversity of ocean life by reading the genes of countless aquatic bacteria and other organisms.

Much of Venter's work will be done in San Diego. Synthetic Genomics, a company Venter formed to commercial genetic discoveries, is headquartered in La Jolla. And the J. Craig Venter Institute, the Rockville, Md.-based research institute he founded, has a West Coast branch in La Jolla.

The local biotech community has been happy to welcome Venter's increasing emphasis on San Diego County -- he was the keynote speaker at another presentation on genomics less than two weeks ago at UC San Diego. That speech focused on environmental uses for genomics; Monday's speech, at the San Diego Marriott downtown, focused on health.

In September, Venter's research team published a map of the "diploid" human genome, showing both sets of genes that humans carry, one set from each parent. The original genome map was made from one set of genes.

The diploid map revealed much more genetic variation among humans than first thought, Venter said. Human genetic variation is about 3 percent, Venter said, compared to the original estimate of 0.1 percent.

"The genes that we do have or don't have very much affect our metabolism, our response to drugs, our response to the environment," Venter said. "Forty-four percent of the genes had one or more major variations. So this notion that we all have the same proteins, with a few minor changes, is wrong. Most of us have two different proteins from anyone else."

This variation explains why drugs often have differing effects on people, Venter said, but the differences weren't fully appreciated before. Using himself as an example, Venter said he is a "fast metabolizer" of caffeine, which explains why he can drink amounts of coffee that might cause heart problems in slow metabolizers.

"Averages really don't tell us anything," Venter said. "That's a problem with the entire pharmaceutical industry."

Now Venter is developing an even more refined map to catch the genetic variations, by sequencing the genomes of 10,000 people and comparing these genomes to their physical characteristics and health.

"For the first time we're going to understand what is truly nature and what is nurture," Venter said.

Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.