These variations account for such things as an individual's risk for heart problems and Alzheimer's disease, resistance to the AIDS virus, and whether a person will be born with type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or any of a long list of other genetic maladies. Several speakers at the symposium mentioned a goal of putting together a catalog, or table, matching variations in human genes with the afflictions they underlie. Once such precise information becomes available, scientist would know what targets they must hit with drugs and other treatments. Getting down to the chips Much of the symposium was devoted to techniques for reading the book of life and applying that knowledge to cure diseases. Letter combinations in a gene comprise a code that specifies what kind of protein a gene will produce when it's turned on.
Proteins catalyze the activity of life.
They turn genes on and off, protect against sickness, send thoughts through our brain and energy through our muscles. Abnormal proteins lead to everything from brain degeneration to bowel inflammation. Variations in the code of each gene can produce two, three, or four different proteins. Three variants in the spelling of one protein, for example, account for much of the risk for Alzheimer's disease. However, all protein variants aren't harmful.