The Genomic Revolution Implications for Treatment and Control of Infectious Disease: Working Group Summaries (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Conference Summary
Conference Summary
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The third annual conference of the National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) , "The Genomic Revolution: Implications for Treatment and Control of Infectious Disease," invited its participants to develop creative ways to attack dangerous microbes through understanding their fundamental genomic compositions.
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Nearly every human ailment is genetically based, at least to some degree, and knowing the ins and outs of genomes will be vital for the next phase of medical diagnosis and treatment of a wide variety of diseases. The goal of the third annual NAKFI conference was to bring to the table bold, innovative ideas about harnessing genomic science to mitigate the spread of infectious disease.
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These highly mathematical specialties form the core of genomics, and it is becoming increasingly vital for researchers to learn about automated sequencing, microarray technology, and optical mapping. Interspersed with other technical tutorials on topics such as human genetic variation were talks about the societal impact of infectious disease.
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One group outlined a detailed framework for governments to react rapidly to emerging disease, providing details for the key stages of surveying and monitoring pathogens, identifying infectious agents, and treating infected individuals. Another group developed blueprints for a device to monitor the environment (either air or biological fluids like mucus, where infectious agents may reside)
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The Futures Initiative aims to spark such relationships and offers a rewarding incentive for researchers to do so: up to $75,000 to fund innovative research and continue collaborative dialogues that emerged from the conference. The initiative supplies $1 million annually for such seed grants, awarded competitively to conference participants.
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The Revolution Continues The devastation wreaked by infectious disease spurred the conference participants to have valuable discussions and consider novel genomic solutions to controlling disease. In an era of fast-mutating deadly viruses like SARS and avian flu, and persistent killers like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV, there is certainly a compelling reason to focus modern developments in genomics while trying to treat infectious disease.
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Lindstrom, vice-provost of research at the University of Washington, warned, "If you're going to take risks, you cannot expect 100 percent success." The Futures Initiative has made valuable investments in scientific risk taking since it was launched in 2003, lauding and supporting bold efforts in both scientific research and communication. And the payoff may be very high: helping to mitigate the ravages of infectious disease.
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