Society needs to be educated across disciplines to understand the promise and limitations of DNA and Pittsburgh is in the forefront, says Richard D. McCullough
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| | | Richard D. McCullough, Ph.D., is dean of the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University. | |
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This month, scientists and the media are celebrating two milestones. April 25 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of the DNA structure, a double helix, by James Watson and Francis Crick.
Discovering the composition and structure of DNA revolutionized science and medicine. A remarkable molecule, DNA stores enormous quantities of information in the form of genes. Genes are the units of code which are translated into proteins that carry out life.
Based on these findings, scientists rapidly developed recombinant DNA technology, which is the ability to manipulate genes to provide wide-ranging benefits, including a better understanding of disease, improved medical diagnostics, beneficial gene therapies and disease-resistant crops.
Also this April, the Human Genome Project is celebrating the completion of the human genome sequence, the long string of DNA code that fills our chromosomes and contains roughly 30,000 genes. A rich source of information, this sequence will lead to a markedly improved understanding of how complex disorders like diabetes develop. Moreover, the completed sequence should inform us about the evolution of genes that raise or decrease our susceptibility to common conditions like dementia.
Research teams at Pittsburgh-based universities and biotech companies have been significant players, both in developing recombinant DNA technologies and in working with human genome sequence data to help understand and cure ailments.
As dean of the Mellon College of Science, I appreciate the pivotal role Pittsburgh has played in achievements to date. The University of Pittsburgh is renowned for its pioneering work in gene therapy. Carnegie Mellon University-based research has produced widely commercialized tools that were key in conducting the Human Genome Project.
This same work helped to spin off one of the region's first biotech companies, Cellomics. Research in Pittsburgh, as well as the newly founded Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, local foundation support and financial backing by state and federal governments, all ensure that Western Pennsylvania's growing biotech industry will expand in the coming years.
Looking back, we have much to celebrate. But these milestones only point to greater opportunities ahead. Both the discovery of DNA structure and the completion of the human genome sequence demonstrate the necessity of interdisciplinary research to achieve great insight. Watson and Crick made their remarkable discovery only through a radical integration of physics, biology, and chemistry.
Today's interdisciplinary challenge is the daunting quantity of genetic data generated by molecular biology. Written in the letters A, T, C, and G, the DNA code forms a string of approximately 3 billion base pairs.
At first glance, this lengthy code appears too complex to decipher. But it will become possible to understand. Through their collaborative research, molecular biologists and computational scientists are processing and mining this enormous amount of information to answer critical questions, such as how genes evolve and what functions they assume. These findings, in turn, will help us understand how human disease occurs.
Additionally, scientists from widely varying fields, including computer science, biology, statistics and chemistry are integrating fundamentally different methods to capture the activity of the thousands of proteins produced in healthy cells and compare them to the thousands made by cancer cells. This new science -- proteomics -- will identify molecules that serve as targets for specific drugs or as markers of a given stage of disease.
Other researchers working at the intersection of chemistry, biology and engineering are creating biosensors, medical diagnostics and nanotech devices. This work takes DNA completely outside its well-described role as an information template.
Our culture's increasing assimilation of DNA-based knowledge calls on us, now more than ever, to educate future generations across disciplinary boundaries. Most of us are not scientists, yet we may be called on to make decisions based on DNA, and we have unconsciously become more dependent on DNA-based technologies.
We expect these technologies to make life better and resolve pressing questions. They help families that suffer from inherited genetic afflictions through early disease diagnosis and management, and they allow us to incriminate or exonerate individuals accused of wrongdoing. Just this month, DNA technologies helped clinical investigators point to the culprit responsible for SARS, the deadly respiratory ailment sweeping the globe. In the coming weeks, DNA forensics may help us determine whether Saddam Hussein really lies in a pile of rubble in Baghdad.
We must have a society educated across disciplines to understand the promise and limitations of DNA. Pittsburgh is undoubtedly at the forefront. As an example, through a collaborative project with local universities such as Carnegie Mellon, families visiting the Carnegie Science Center have explored the living cell and the emerging specialty of tissue engineering, two topics where DNA is central.
Our educational system also is changing to reflect a growing need for cross-disciplinary understanding. The Mellon College of Science, the Graduate School of Industrial Administration and the Heinz School of Public Policy are collaborating to develop a biotechnology management program to launch by 2004.
Carnegie Mellon also offers an inter-college program in the humanities and sciences, and it is the only university nationwide to offer an inter-college undergraduate degree in the natural sciences/mathematics and the fine arts. It is clear that these initiatives, as well as nationally recognized programs at other area institutions, will educate tomorrow's leaders in fields such as science, business, policy development and art.
This winter, Carnegie Mellon's Regina Gouger Miller Gallery hosted Paradise Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolution. This exhibit of international art explored themes of DNA and genetic engineering. The double helix, an icon familiar to many by now, was not central in the show. Instead, projected across one large wall were row upon row of letters -- A, T, C, and G -- a representation of DNA that challenges both artists and scientists to interpret and understand its meaning.
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