U.S. and Britain to make Human Genome Project results public
WASHINGTON-- President Clinton and British Prime
Minister Tony Blair have agreed that all discoveries from the
Human Genome Project will be made available to the global
scientific community in order to assist health research.
The Human Genome Project is an international scientific
effort to map and sequence the 3 billion "letters" and to
locate and identify the roughly 100,000 genes that make up a
person's genetic code.
The United States and the United Kingdom are the leading
partners in the program, which expects to complete the first
draft of its initial report late this year.
The two countries have agreed to a joint statement to be
released Tuesday in both the United States and Britain,
applauding researchers who have already made their human
genome data available and calling on all researchers to
follow their lead.
Treatments could match individual genetic code
The project could drastically effect the practice of
medicine. Doctors would have the ability to custom tailor
treatments to patients' genetic code.
The two leaders are expected to say unencumbered access to
such data will allow researchers of medicine and human health
care to better understand the human biology and fight
disease.
The Clinton administration has requested a total of $448
million in federal funds for the fiscal year 2001 to fund the
Human Genome Project.
If Congress approves, that would bring the U.S. contribution
to the fund to just under $3 billion since the project's
inception in 1993.
The president is to make the announcement Tuesday afternoon
at the White House.
U.S. investment to reach $3 billion
The Clinton administration has requested a total of $448
million in federal funds for the fiscal year 2001 to fund the
Human Genome Project.
If Congress approves, that would bring the U.S. contribution
to the fund to just under $3 billion since the project's
inception in 1993.
The president is to make the announcement Tuesday afternoon
at the White House.
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