The Race to Locate BRCA1 (Breast Cancer 1)

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

4 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

06/03/2008

Category :

Science & technology

Sub category :

Medical studies

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Summary :

Introduction
Finding 1 gene among 20,000 others
DNA markers: Prominent tools in genetic research
Dr. King's twofold methods
The work of Dr. King: A new outlook on patient treatment
Conclusion
References

Abstract

In an interview, Dr. Mary-Claire King said, "To me, the most interesting questions are those that have potentially a very practical outcome."1 One of these questions was, What causes breast cancer? This question perplexed Dr. King since she was thirteen years old and lost her best friend to breast cancer. Over three decades later, in 1990, she discovered the breast cancer gene, brca1, and mapped its approximate location on the human genome.2 In the words of Dr. Mark Skolnick, who would later become a key rival in pinpointing the location of this exact gene: "It galvanized research."2 Dr. King's breakthrough took the scientific community by storm and inspired a subsequent flurry of scientists to try and locate brca1 as well as other disease-causing genes. Though it was Dr. Skolnick and the team at biopharmaceutical company Myriad Genetics Inc. that won the race of locating brca1, and Myriad Genetics that developed a diagnostic test (still in place today) called bracanalysis,3 which screens women for their susceptibility for developing breast cancer, Dr. King's work greatly paved the way for such an application. bracanalysis is especially significant because it marks an era of revolutionary preventative medicine, using new technologies to diagnose a person's chances of developing a disease in order to prevent its onset.