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49 Emory L. J. 801 (2000)
Medical Genetics: Present and Future Benefits

handle is hein.journals/emlj49 and id is 811 raw text is: MEDICAL GENETICS: PRESENT AND FUTURE BENEFITS Louis J. Elsas, II, M.D., FFACMG* The 2000 Thrower Symposium marks not only the tenth anniversary of our first symposium on Genetics and the Law, but also the tenth anniversary of the Human Genome Project.1 The Human Genome Project is a worldwide research effort to analyze and determine the location of its estimated 50,000 to 100,000 genes.2 In parallel studies, the DNA in lower, model organisms are sequenced and their genes and the protein products of their genes studied to provide insight for understanding the function of human genes.3 Analysis of the ethical, legal and social implications of this evolving genetic knowledge is an integral part of the project. Both our symposium and the Human Genome Project were concerned over the need for policy guidelines regarding the application of information that would become available when all genes of the human genome were available to predict an individual's genetic fate. Case studies were introduced at the symposium to dramatize theoretical dilemmas in the delivery of the evolving predictive science. Mythological monsters, literary figures, and historical events involving inhumane acts were used to illustrate and sensationalize potentially harmful results of using new biochemical, cytogenetic, and molecular methods as predictive tools to foretell the future health or disease of individuals, families, and ethnic societies.4 The ability to foretell the future has generated drama and tragedy from the beginnings of Western mythology. One well-known example is the Homeric tale of Cassandra.5 Cassandra, Priam's most beautiful daughter, was courted * Professor of Pediatrics and Biochemistry, and Director, Division of Medical Genetics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. M.D., University of Virginia (1962). 1 See Symposium, Genetics and the Law, 39 EMORY LJ. 619 (1990); Colin Norman, Bush Budget Highlights R & D 247 ScIENcE 517, 517 (1990) (proposing an increase in funding from $87 million to $154 million between 1990 and 1991 for the Human Genome Project). 2 For a complete explanation of the Human Genome Project, see NATIONAL HUMAN GENOME REsEARCH INsTrrrE (INHGRr'), NATIONAL INsTITUTES OF HEALTH, The Human Genome Project (last modified Feb. 9,2000) <http.//www.nhgri.nih.gov/HGP>. 3 Id. 4 See Lori B. Andrews, The Randolph W. Thrower Symposium: Genetics and the Law, Introduction, 39 EMORY L.J. 619 (1990). 5 Cassandra was said to be the most beautiful of Priam's daughters in Homer's Iliad. Her prophetic status appears in Pindar, 474 B.C. Aeschylus uses the curse of her prophetic powers in Agamemnon. See

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