Of Genes and Genomes: What Lies between the Base Pairs

Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, is a physician-geneticist and the Director of the National Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health. An innovator in gene research, Dr. Collins was instrumental in developing the method of positional cloning, by which disease genes may be identified through the crossing of large stretches of DNA. In collaboration with other researchers, Dr. Collins has aided in the identification of the cystic fibrosis gene, the neurofibrosis gene, and the gene for Huntington's disease. William A. Haseltine, PhD, is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Human Genome Sciences, which he founded in 1992. The mission of this company is to develop products to prevent, treat, and cure disease through its leadership in the discovery and understanding of human genes. Dr. Haseltine was a professor at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health from 1976 to 1993. He has founded seven medical-related companies and holds more than 50 patents for his discoveries. In an interview with JIM, Drs. Collins and Haseltine addressed some of the issues surrounding human genome research.