Internet-Based Gene Research Project

S A N  J O S E, Calif., Aug. 1 -- DNA Sciences Inc. is banking on theInternet’s vast reach to give it a strategic edge in the crowdedfield of genetic research.  

The Mountain View-based company will launch alarge-scale gene research project today that uses the Internet to collectmedical information from any willing donors, healthy and ill, inthe United States.

Using this information, DNA Sciences will determine which donorsfit into various patient profiles for 20 common diseases thecompany wishes to study. Blood samples will be taken from thesedonors, and the samples will be used to determine gene variationsthat could lead to better drugs and medical treatments for thediseases. The donors will not be paid for their information orblood samples.

‘Broad-Based Approach’

Using a Web site to solicit donors is a creative approach togathering genetic and medical information, scientists say.

“This is not a novel concept, but it’s definitely the mostbroad-based approach I’ve heard of,” said Huntington Willard,board president-elect of the American Society of Human Genetics.

Thousands of scientists in the public, private and academicarenas are now armed with the recent “rough-draft” gene sequencesof all 46 human chromosomes, released last month by thegovernment’s Human Genome Project. Using such information,scientists are working feverishly to unleash new ways to diagnoseand possibly cure diseases.

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But unlike other efforts, the so-called Gene Trust Project byDNA Sciences appeals directly to the general public, bypassing theusually more specific recruitment programs used by universities,hospitals, or pharmaceutical companies for clinical trials.

“We’re creating an opportunity for humanity to help us create anew world,” said Ray White, the company’s chief scientificofficer.

Time and Money Saved

DNA Sciences, founded in May 1998, hopes to collect the DNAsamples of at least 100,000 people willing to participate infour-year studies. Initial research efforts will focus on Type IIdiabetes, coronary artery disease, asthma, multiple sclerosis, andbreast cancer, and will later expand to a total of 20 commondiseases.