Every day human beings are exposed to a series of substances and contaminants that cause the malfunction of our genomes, which causes a severe aggression to health. This is a very delicate situation, because the probability of getting cancer or any degenerative disease multiplies, according to Esperanza Martínez Romero, coordinator of the degree in genomic sciences at the Morelos unit of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
The researcher mentioned that exposures to mutagens (agents that alter genetic information) have multiplicative effects; that is, the effect of one mutagen plus another is greater than the sum of the two effects. “We mutate because we have reached contaminant levels never seen before in the history of mankind,” said Martínez Romero.
Genome sequencing allows us to detect mutations. Genomics is an emerging area of knowledge that yields data about genetic information, which must be decoded to understand what the genomes say.
The researcher said students are taught that they can understand, decipher and extract knowledge from all these genomic data that is revolutionizing medicine, biology, agriculture, and our concepts of evolution.
Martínez Romero pointed out that complete analyzes of genomes have allowed us identifying which genes determine certain diseases. A possible treatment in the future would be editing the genome.
Controversial but with wide scope
This option leads to a controversial situation because, according to the Martínez Romero, the risk is much higher because although genomics has driven the use of technology, it is not yet fully applicable to modify genomes. However, she said that it would be beneficial for those people with lethal diseases or for which there is no pharmacological cure.
She said that developed countries will be the first to have access to this technology almost routinely, which will make it easier to make decisions when thinking about having children. Therefore, people with Huntington or Parkinson’s disease may know if they inherited the mutation, that is, the genetic problem that will lead to suffering from this disease.
The power of genetics has been such that “what we imagined the genomes would give us has fallen short.”
Genomic studies have also yielded discoveries of de novo mutations, those that emerged in the process of generating a new living being, explained the researcher.
Esperanza Martínez Romero said that the challenges facing this science are enormous. “We are practically in the prehistory of genomics; we do not know the function of the genes of many organisms.”
Source: La Jornada
