Internet-Based Gene Research Project
S A N J O S E, Calif., Aug. 1, 2000 -- 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.
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.
Donors participate by completing a confidential personal andfamily health profile. If their profile matches what is needed fora current research project, the consumer will be asked to donate ablood sample, which will be collected by an independent, qualifiedhealth professional.
“Our wide-scale reach via dna.com for the first time enables usto conduct studies with large sample sizes that would otherwisehave been time-consuming and costly to conduct,” White said.
The company is working with patient advocacy groups andhealth-related Web sites to speed up recruitment and hopefully,White said, accelerate discoveries.
Privacy and Ethical Concerns
Knowing that potential controversies could arise from privacyand ethical issues, DNA Sciences worked to ensure that consumerinformation would not get into the wrong hands, company officialssaid. All data gathered through the Internet will be encrypted, andinformation from the DNA samples will be anonymous.
Those precautions made Susan Joy Friday of Pacific Palisades,Calif., feel confident about donating information on her 30-plusyears of dealing with diabetes and its symptoms.
“The benefits outweigh the danger, and donating blood andtelling my family history is the least I could do,” she said.
DNA Sciences, which is privately held, plans to sell theirknowledge of discovered gene variations later to universities,health maintenance organizations, pharmaceutical companies, andpossibly medical insurance companies.
The company is backed by The Soros Fund, Apple Tree Partners,Domain Associates, Brentwood Associates Venture Capital (VersantVenture Capital), Pequot Capital, Casdin Capital Partners andHealtheon/WebMD.
Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape CommunicationsCorporation and Healtheon Corporation, is an investor and serves onthe board of directors, along with James Watson, co-discoverer ofthe double helix of DNA.