CORDIS Express: Exploring the human, animal and plant genome
Research into the human genome is offering us fascinating insights into how DNA determines our health and identity. Meanwhile, exploration (and in some cases modification) of the genetic material of plants and animals has the potential to improve quality and tackle disease. Research on these subjects is quickly accelerating - a recent invention in the field of genetics is the gene chip or DNA microarrays which gather tens of thousands of oligonucleotides (short DNA molecules) on a single glass slide. Affordable genome sequencing is expected to become reality for many in the next few years. This kind of knowledge may help determine disease susceptibility and whether a drug will help a patient or cause serious side-effects, paving the way for personalised therapy based on an individual's genetic profile. When it comes to plants and animals, researchers continue to explore and develop genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This technique allows selected individual genes to be transferred from one organism into another, also between non-related species. This technology is not without controversy however. Currently, only one GM crop - a pesticide-producing maize known as MON 810 - is grown on EU soil and safeguards are in place against it in some Member States. Meanwhile, 49 GMOs for animal feed are in circulation in the EU. The results of research into GMOs and advances in genome technologies will have far-reaching implications for us all, both societal and individual. This edition of CORDIS Express takes a look at the EU projects that are exploring the human, animal and plant genome. The pan-European project decoding the DNA Will Europeans accept GM animal technologies? Genetic testing for brood-spawning fish Ancestral genes coding for cancer Systems biology of evolution
