It's All In The Genes

In 1989 geneticists discovered that the gene for cystic fibrosis matches a bacteria gene. Since this primitive gene carries substances into and out of bacteria, biologists realized that CF must arise when such substances cannot cross into lung cells. And that has suggested new therapies for the fatal disease.

In 1992, researchers led by Greg Lennon of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found that a new gene matched a whole slew of database genes: all make enzymes that cripple nerves controlling muscles. With the match, the scientists had discovered the gene that causes myotonic dystrophy, a muscle-wasting disease that afflicts more than 35,000 Americans.

Not all of this work is serious. Last summer NCBI's Mark Boguski sought a match for the DNA sequence printed in "Jurassic Park." It wasn't T. rex; the computer told him it was bacterial DNA.

"It would be hard to find a recent DNA-based discovery that didn't use these tools," says Lennon. That's bad news for scientists who aren't computer-savvy. In one case, Oregon researchers missed discovering a colon-cancer gene because they used the wrong software: it failed to look in every nook and cranny of the database. This spring, researchers at Hopkins found the gene but made their own costly cy-bergoof. They had sought the match not in a free database but in a commercial one. The owner, Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Maryland, requires scientists to give it exclusive rights to any product from the discovery. Any profits from, say, kits for detecting the cancer gene will go to the private firm.