View source for The human genome project completion announcement by Bill Clinton

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<div style="margin: auto 0cm"><b><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 10pt">PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST SURVEY OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME Hails Public and Private Efforts Leading to This Historic Achievement </span></font></b></div>
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<pre><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; THE WHITE HOUSE</span></pre>
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<pre><span>&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Office of the Press Secretary</span></pre>
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For Immediate Release<span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; June 25, 2000</span></pre>
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<pre><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="font-size: 11pt">PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; SURVEY OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">&nbsp;&nbsp; Hails Public and Private Efforts Leading to This Historic Achievement</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; June 26, 2000</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Today, at a historic White House event with British Prime Minister Tony</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Blair, President Clinton announced that the international Human Genome</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Project and Celera Genomics Corporation have both completed an initial</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">sequencing of the human genome -- the genetic blueprint for human beings.</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">He congratulated the scientists working in both the public and private</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">sectors on this landmark achievement, which promises to lead to a new era</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">of molecular medicine, an era that will bring new ways to prevent,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">diagnose, treat and cure disease.&nbsp;The President pledged to continue and</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">accelerate the United States' commitment to helping translate this</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">blueprint into novel healthcare strategies and therapies.&nbsp;He will</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">underscore that this genetic information must never be used to stigmatize</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">or discriminate against any individual or group.&nbsp;Our scientific advances</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">must always incorporate our most cherished values, and the privacy of this</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">new information must be protected.</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">DECODING THE HUMAN GENOME WILL LEAD TO NEW WAYS TO PREVENT, DIAGNOSE,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">TREAT, AND CURE DISEASE.&nbsp;Alterations in our genes are responsible for an</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">estimated 5000 clearly hereditary diseases, such as Huntington's disease,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia, and influence the development of</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">thousands of other diseases.&nbsp;Before the advent of the Human Genome</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Project, a joint project of HHS, DOE, and international partners in the</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, China, connecting a gene with a</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">disease was a slow, arduous, painstaking, and frequently imprecise process.</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Today, genes are discovered and described within days.&nbsp;For example, in</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">1989, scientists found the gene for cystic fibrosis after a 9-year search;</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">eight years later, largely because of the coordinated efforts of the Human</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Genome Project, a gene for Parkinson's disease was mapped in only 9 days.</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Now, scientists will be able to use the working draft of the human genome</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">to:</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">* Alert patients that they are at risk for certain diseases.&nbsp;Once</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">scientists discover which DNA sequence changes in a gene can cause disease,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">healthy people can be tested to see whether they risk developing conditions</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">such as diabetes or prostate cancer later in life. In many cases, this</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">advance warning can be a cue to start a vigilant screening program, to take</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">preventive medicines, or to make diet or lifestyle changes that may prevent</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">the disease.</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">* Reliably predict the course of disease.&nbsp;Diagnosing ailments more</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">precisely will lead to more reliable predictions about the course of a</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">disease. For example, a genetic fingerprint will allow doctors treating</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">prostate cancer to predict how aggressive a tumor will be.&nbsp;New genetic</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">information will help patients and doctors weigh the risks and benefits of</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">different treatments.</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">* Precisely diagnose disease and ensure the most effective treatment is</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">used.&nbsp;Genetic analysis allows us to classify diseases, such as colon</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">cancer and skin cancer, into more defined categories.&nbsp;These improved</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">classifications will eventually allow scientists to tailor drugs for</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">patients whose individual response can be predicted by genetic</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">fingerprinting.&nbsp;For example, cancer patients facing chemotherapy could</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">receive a genetic fingerprint of their tumor that would predict which</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">chemotherapy choices are most likely to be effective, leading to fewer side</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">effects from the treatment and improved prognoses.</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">* Developing new treatments at the molecular level.&nbsp;&nbsp; Drug design guided by</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">an understanding of how genes work and knowledge of exactly what happens at</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">the molecular level to cause disease, will lead to more effective</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">therapies.&nbsp;In many cases, rather than trying to replace a gene, it may be</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">more effective and simpler to replace a defective gene's protein product.</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Alternatively, it may be possible to administer a small molecule that would</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">interact with the protein to change its behavior.&nbsp;This is the strategy</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">behind a drug in development for chronic myelogenous leukemia, which</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">targets the genetic flaw causing the disease.&nbsp;It attaches to the abnormal</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">protein caused by the genetic flaw and blocks its activity. In preliminary</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">tests, blood counts returned to normal in all patients treated with the</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">drug.</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT REPRESENTS THE STARTING POINT FOR A NEW ERA OF GENETIC</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">MEDICINE.&nbsp;The sequence represents only the first step in the full decoding</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">of the genome, because most of the individual genes and their specific</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">functions must still be deciphered and understood.&nbsp;This research has</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">begun, and already, tens of thousands of genes have been identified,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">including some related to deafness, kidney disease, breast cancer,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">hereditary skeletal disorders, hemorrhagic stroke and diabetes, thus</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">advancing the work of researchers worldwide at a rate that would have</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">impossible without these data. The Human Genome Project, which completed</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">its version of the working draft two years ahead of schedule and under</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">budget, will continue its longstanding practice of making all of its</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">sequencing data available to public and privately funded researchers</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">worldwide at no cost.&nbsp;Celera Genomics, which makes its sequencing data</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">available by subscription, will also make its version of the consensus</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">human genome sequence available to non-subscribers upon publication.</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">PRESIDENT CLINTON PLEDGES STRONG SUPPORT FOR GENETIC RESEARCH BY BOTH THE</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS.&nbsp;President Clinton reiterated the commitment of</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">the United States to robust Federal support for basic scientific research</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">facilitating medical application of the science. President Clinton also</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">stated his support for a strong structure to review the medical, ethical</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">and other issues presented by the expected new power of genetic medicine,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">building on the multi-million dollar investment the Human Genome Project</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">already makes in research on the social, ethical and legal implications of</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">this work. He recognized that research and development by biotechnology</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">companies will be key to the translation of human genome sequence data into</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">useful, new healthcare products and pledged to strengthen a business</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">environment that will spur research and development in this vital sector.</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">The President also reaffirmed his support for patenting genetic discoveries</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">that have substantial and credible uses. By protecting and rewarding</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">investment in research, consistent with current law, this policy of</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">intellectual property protection will promote rapid conversion of basic</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">knowledge into useful applications, while at the same time allowing a</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">maximum free flow of basic scientific information.</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT BUILDS ON THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION'S STRONG</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING PRIVATE GENETIC INFORMATION.&nbsp;Since 1997, the</span></pre>
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<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">President and Vice President have called for legislation that will</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">guarantee that Americans who are self-employed or otherwise buy health</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">insurance themselves will not lose or be denied that health insurance</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">because of their genetic makeup.&nbsp;Last winter, President Clinton signed an</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">executive order that prohibits every civilian Federal Department and agency</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">from using genetic information in any hiring or promotion action. This</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">historic action prevented critical information from genetic tests used to</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">help predict, prevent, and treat diseases, from being used against Federal</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">employees.&nbsp;In addition, President Clinton has endorsed the Genetic</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance and Employment Act of 1999,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">introduced by Senator Daschle and Congresswoman Slaughter, that will extend</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">these employment protections to the private sector and finish the job of</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">helping to extend protections to individuals purchasing health insurance,</span></pre>
<pre><span style="font-size: 11pt">begun with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.</span></pre>
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<div><strong><span style="font-size: 9pt">Document Use and Credits</span></strong><span style="font-size: 9pt"><br />
Publications and webpages on this site were created by the U.S. Department of Energy Genome Program's <a href="http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/mission.shtml"><font color="#0000ff">Biological and Environmental Research Information System (BERIS)</font></a>. Permission to use these documents is not needed, but please credit the U.S. Department of Energy Genome Programs and provide the website http://genomics.energy.gov. All other materials were provided by third parties and not created by the U.S. Department of Energy. You must contact the person listed in the citation before using those documents.</span></div>
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