By screening out SNP differences between affected and healthy people, scientists discovered the CCR5 receptor was crucial in HIV transmission. This information is now being used in the development of anti-Aids drugs. Because SNPs also determine how an individual will react to a particular drug, scientists hope that in 10-15 years, with genetic testing of patients, there could be drugs that are tailored to an individual's genetic profile. New discoveries in genetic research already are having an impact on many treatments, including cancer. These pioneering new treatments are less toxic, with fewer side effects than other treatments like broad-spectrum chemotherapy.
Proteins are the key to the complexities of human physiology.
Insulin, for example, is the protein that helps control our blood-sugar level. Haemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells which carries oxygen to all the cells in the body. The sequencing of the human genome revealed humans have only double the amount of genes of a fruit fly or an ear of corn. Early research of proteins has been promising. Scientists in Shanghai and Hong Kong announced the discovery earlier this month of a gene in rats that controls the production of a protein which prevents sexually transmitted disease.