testbiotech

In 2007 the New York Times featured an article about recent results in genome research which put in question long established views about genes and their regulation.1 The international ENCODE Project showed that the mechanisms in gene regulation is much more complex than thought so far.2 As it was phrased in the The New York Times:
„The scientists who invented recombinant DNA in 1973 built their innovation on this mechanistic, "one gene, one protein" principle. Because donor genes could be associated with specific functions, with discrete properties and clear boundaries, scientists then believed that a gene from any organism could fit neatly and predictably into a larger design - one that products and companies could be built around, and that could be protected by intellectual-property laws. This presumption, now disputed, is what one molecular biologist calls >the industrial gene<. "The industrial gene is one that can be defined, owned, tracked, proven acceptably safe, proven to have uniform effect, sold and recalled," said Jack Heinemann (...)“
The ENCODE Project one more time showed what was already broadly discussed amongst experts in 2001. At this time the first analysis of the human genome was presented showing that humans only have about 20.000 genes instead of about 100.000 genes as thought previous. This remarkable low number of human genes is in striking contrast with their task to code for hundredthousands of proteins of the human body. Craig Venter which played a decisive role in the human genome project gave a astonishing comment in Science:3
“The modest number of human genes means that we must look elsewhere for the mechanisms that generate the complexities inherent in human development and the sophisticated signaling systems that maintain homoestasis”
These findings of genome research gave birth to something which is called by many experts the era of postgenomics: It is no longer the analysis of specific DNA sequences that catches the most scientific attraction, but the mechanisms of its complex regulation. This new focus of research is also widely accepted in plant genomics.
Testbiotech argues that this breakthrough in molecular biology impacts various applications in biotechnology, such as genetic engineering in plants and their risk assessment.

• 1. Caruso, Denise, „A Challenge to Gene Theory, a Tougher Look at Biotech“, New York Times, 1. Juli 2007, www.nytimes.com
• 2. ENCODE 2007, "Identification and analysis of functional elements in 1% of the human genome by the ENCODE pilot project", Nature, Vol 447, 14 Juni 2007, 799-816
• 3. Venter, J.C. et al (2001) The sequence of the Human Genome. Science Vol. 291: 1304-1351