What do you say, Gen?

Yulia Vasilishina, Rossiyskaya Gazeta 

Without genetics, which makes it possible to find out the individual characteristics of a person, the development of neither medicine nor criminology is unthinkable today. Belarusian and Russian scientists have good practices on the application of the science of heredity in these areas. The Union program "DNA Identification" is designed to bring them to a new level, which is currently undergoing the last approvals and should start from the beginning of next year.

Its customers are the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and the Russian Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations. In the previous issue of SOYUZ, I told that the State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota visited the N.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. During the visit, one of the main directions of the upcoming program was discussed – the use of its results in criminology. And the other day our correspondent visited the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, whose genetic scientists will participate in the implementation of the program, and tried to delve into the specifics of the second important program aspect – medical.

– Analyzing a person's DNA, you can say a lot about him, because 75% of his qualities are due to genes – this is both appearance and character, intellectual and physical abilities, health. This means that identification can be carried out with the help of DNA, – introduces the Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor Irma Mosse, head of the Laboratory of Human Genetics at the Institute of Genetics and Cytology of the National Academy of Sciences.

At the same time, the research of geneticists is very important from the point of view of practical application in healthcare. This is what the second part of the five-year Union program is dedicated to.

– It became clear that it is necessary to treat a person individually. Medicine should be personalized, for everyone it is necessary to choose their own method of treatment. In addition, it should become preventive, i.e. it is necessary to determine the risks of diseases in advance and carry out prevention. There was even the term "medicine of the four P's": personal, preventive, predictive and participatory, involving the person himself in the cure. And it is impossible without genetic analyses, – Irma Borisovna reinforces what has been said with an example from her practice. The Institute of Genetics and Cytology of the NAS actively cooperates with the Belarusian RNPC "Cardiology". Doctors have protocols on how to act in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. But when exposed to the same drug, someone's treatment goes well, and someone's blood thickens and clots form, which in itself is dangerous, or vice versa, bleeding occurs because the blood is thinning. And imagine that we are talking about such a complex and very expensive operation as a heart transplant? Is it acceptable to lose a patient just because the prescribed treatment will not suit him? To avoid this, scientists, determining the genotype of a person by DNA, find out whether the medicine is suitable for him and what dose is needed.

Medical aspects of DNA identification are also related to criminology. Any biological material – hair, blood, saliva, fat spots – allows you to isolate DNA and tell about a person not only what sex, age and appearance he is (his eye color, hair, skin, physique), but also what he was ill with. This narrows the search circle, because such a patient could be registered at a dispensary or simply turn to doctors with his problem. Such information can also be valuable in identifying victims of accidents and catastrophes or in case of memory loss.

The Institute of Genetics and Cytology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus has a long-standing scientific cooperation with the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Union program will strengthen it, making it possible to cover new, not yet explored areas.

– We plan to engage in such an interesting area as the genetics of intelligence. When the human genome was deciphered and it became possible to determine its qualities, first of all we were talking about medical genetics, since health is, of course, very important. The genetics of sport is also necessary, because it works for the prestige of the country. The genetics of intelligence is no less important, but it is still poorly developed in the world. But ideally, it is realistic to determine the abilities of a child, to understand in what field he can become an outstanding specialist, whether a physicist, singer, engineer, make–up artist or cook will come out of him, - Irma Mosse surprises with the prospects of genetic research. In her opinion, there should be no dissonance between desire and genetic abilities when choosing a profession, because a person is always interested in doing what is easy for him. That to which there is no inclination, the soul does not lie, he will not love.

Within the framework of the DNA Identification program, it is planned to investigate the genetic aspects of stress resistance. This is important both for athletes with their colossal overloads, and for representatives of extreme professions – divers, rescuers, cosmonauts...

In total, the Union program "DNA Identification" has ten research areas: five in the field of medicine and the same number in criminology.

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15.07.2015