June 26, 2000
TO: Editors, news directors
FROM: Brian Mattmiller, (608) 262-9772, [email protected]
RE: THE ROAD MAP TO THE HUMAN GENOME
The expected announcement today of the complete sequencing of the human genome will be one of the most profound milestones in science, one expected to open new pathways to curing and preventing disease.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has an accomplished group of scientists working in the genomics field, including some who participated in the federal Human Genome Project. UW-Madison is home to the Genome Center of Wisconsin, which serves as a focal point for genetic research in plants, animals and people.
Scientists here also are studying the social and ethical implications of unlocking the human genome. A strategic hiring effort at UW-Madison has resulted in the addition last year of two new experts in bioethics.
The following is a sampling of UW-Madison expertise on this new frontier of science. For a more complete look at the university's genomics contributions, visit the Biotechnology site at:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/biotech/
-- Fred Blattner, professor of genetics.
(608) 262-2534; [email protected]
Blattner is director of UW-Madison's new Genome Center of Wisconsin, a concentration of faculty who are developing tools to sequence the complete blueprints of life forms and determine the functions of individual genes. Blattner achieved a milestone in the field in 1997 by sequencing the complete genome of E. coli, at the time the most complex organism ever sequenced.
-- Alta Charo, professor of law and history of medicine.
(608)262-5015; [email protected]
Charo is a leading scholar of bioethics and public policy on biotechnology. She has brought a unique interdisciplinary background to controversial topics such as cloning, reproductive technologies, research on human beings, and embryo research. She is currently serving by appointment of President Clinton on the President's National Bioethics Advisory Commission.
-- Norman Fost, professor of pediatrics.
(608)263-8562; [email protected]
Fost is the founder of UW-Madison's program in medical ethics, and has garnered national recognition for his leadership in the field. He has served for years as the chair of the UW Hospital and Clinic's ethics and human subjects committees. His opinions are sought nationally on subjects such as health care access, testing for genetic diseases, cloning and patient's rights.
-- David Schwartz, a professor of chemistry and genetics.
(608)265-0546; [email protected]
Schwartz is a national leader in the development of better, faster ways to decipher genetic information in plants and animals. His optical mapping technology creates whole genome maps in a fraction of the time of comparable technologies. His technology is in use in mapping the human genome, the rice genome, and was recently used in completing the genome for malaria.
-- Lloyd Smith, professor of chemistry.
(608)263-2594; [email protected]
Smith is a world leader in the design and development of technologies used in the race to sequence the genetic material of plants and animals. He has recently made big advances in demonstrating the potential of DNA-based computing. He is also a co-founder of Third Wave Technologies, one of Wisconsin's most successful biotech companies.
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