Guest: Victor K. McElheny.
The Human Genome Project is one of the most important accomplishments in modern science. Science writer Victor McElheny joins Focus today to talk about the origins of the Project, the race to achieve the end goal, and today's efforts to exploit its results. It's not only a major event in medicine, says McElheny, but a striking example of how new technologies contribute to the formation of new hypotheses.
Guest: Eric Green.
Today on Focus we'll review what is arguably the most ambitious medical research project ever undertaken: the exploration of the human genome. Our guest will be Eric Green from the National Human Genome Research Institute. He'll explain some of their technology and give us a progress report. Much has been accomplished, he says, but we are only partway up the mountain.
Guest: Nicholas Wade.
The sequencing of the human genome is set to change medicine forever. Today on Focus, science writer Nicholas Wade joins the show to explore the impact genetic science will have on how diseases are diagnosed and treated. We'll also review stem cell research, the treatment it may be able to offer treatment for a range of debilitating conditions, and the ethical controversy still surrounding it.
Guest: Barbara Katz Rothman.
Genetics, says sociologist Barbara Katz Rothman, isn't just a science. It's a way of thinking, an ideology. She joins us today on Focus to discuss some of the controversial topics at the forefront of the field and how she addresses them in her recent book The Book of Life: A Personal Guide to Race, Normality, and the Implications of the Human Genome Project.
Guest: Kevin Davies.
Today on Focus, we'll look at the people and technology involved in the effort to decode human DNA. The quest became a race between a private venture and a government-sponsored team—but now the leaders have jointly announced that the code has been cracked. But many questions remain unanswered, and today's guest on Focus will try to tackle some of them. Kevin Davies is the founding editor of Nature Genetics and author of Cracking the Genome.
