PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST SURVEY OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME Hails Public and Private Efforts Leading to This Historic Achievement

<span>                    THE WHITE HOUSE</span>

<span>               Office of the Press Secretary</span>

___________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release<span>                                       June 25, 2000</span>

<span>          </span><span style="font-size: 11pt">PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THE COMPLETION OF THE FIRST</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">                     SURVEY OF THE ENTIRE HUMAN GENOME</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">   Hails Public and Private Efforts Leading to This Historic Achievement</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">                               June 26, 2000</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Today, at a historic White House event with British Prime Minister Tony</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Blair, President Clinton announced that the international Human Genome</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Project and Celera Genomics Corporation have both completed an initial</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">sequencing of the human genome -- the genetic blueprint for human beings.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">He congratulated the scientists working in both the public and private</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">sectors on this landmark achievement, which promises to lead to a new era</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">of molecular medicine, an era that will bring new ways to prevent,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">diagnose, treat and cure disease. The President pledged to continue and</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">accelerate the United States' commitment to helping translate this</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">blueprint into novel healthcare strategies and therapies. He will</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">underscore that this genetic information must never be used to stigmatize</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">or discriminate against any individual or group. Our scientific advances</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">must always incorporate our most cherished values, and the privacy of this</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">new information must be protected.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">DECODING THE HUMAN GENOME WILL LEAD TO NEW WAYS TO PREVENT, DIAGNOSE,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">TREAT, AND CURE DISEASE. Alterations in our genes are responsible for an</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">estimated 5000 clearly hereditary diseases, such as Huntington's disease,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia, and influence the development of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">thousands of other diseases. Before the advent of the Human Genome</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Project, a joint project of HHS, DOE, and international partners in the</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, China, connecting a gene with a</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">disease was a slow, arduous, painstaking, and frequently imprecise process.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Today, genes are discovered and described within days. For example, in</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">1989, scientists found the gene for cystic fibrosis after a 9-year search;</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">eight years later, largely because of the coordinated efforts of the Human</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Genome Project, a gene for Parkinson's disease was mapped in only 9 days.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Now, scientists will be able to use the working draft of the human genome</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">to:</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Alert patients that they are at risk for certain diseases. Once</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">scientists discover which DNA sequence changes in a gene can cause disease,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">healthy people can be tested to see whether they risk developing conditions</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">such as diabetes or prostate cancer later in life. In many cases, this</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">advance warning can be a cue to start a vigilant screening program, to take</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">preventive medicines, or to make diet or lifestyle changes that may prevent</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">the disease.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Reliably predict the course of disease. Diagnosing ailments more</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">precisely will lead to more reliable predictions about the course of a</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">disease. For example, a genetic fingerprint will allow doctors treating</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">prostate cancer to predict how aggressive a tumor will be. New genetic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">information will help patients and doctors weigh the risks and benefits of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">different treatments.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Precisely diagnose disease and ensure the most effective treatment is</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">used. Genetic analysis allows us to classify diseases, such as colon</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">cancer and skin cancer, into more defined categories. These improved</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">classifications will eventually allow scientists to tailor drugs for</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">patients whose individual response can be predicted by genetic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">fingerprinting. For example, cancer patients facing chemotherapy could</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">receive a genetic fingerprint of their tumor that would predict which</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">chemotherapy choices are most likely to be effective, leading to fewer side</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">effects from the treatment and improved prognoses.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">* Developing new treatments at the molecular level.   Drug design guided by</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">an understanding of how genes work and knowledge of exactly what happens at</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">the molecular level to cause disease, will lead to more effective</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">therapies. In many cases, rather than trying to replace a gene, it may be</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">more effective and simpler to replace a defective gene's protein product.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Alternatively, it may be possible to administer a small molecule that would</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">interact with the protein to change its behavior. This is the strategy</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">behind a drug in development for chronic myelogenous leukemia, which</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">targets the genetic flaw causing the disease. It attaches to the abnormal</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">protein caused by the genetic flaw and blocks its activity. In preliminary</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">tests, blood counts returned to normal in all patients treated with the</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">drug.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT REPRESENTS THE STARTING POINT FOR A NEW ERA OF GENETIC</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">MEDICINE. The sequence represents only the first step in the full decoding</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">of the genome, because most of the individual genes and their specific</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">functions must still be deciphered and understood. This research has</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">begun, and already, tens of thousands of genes have been identified,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">including some related to deafness, kidney disease, breast cancer,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">hereditary skeletal disorders, hemorrhagic stroke and diabetes, thus</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">advancing the work of researchers worldwide at a rate that would have</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">impossible without these data. The Human Genome Project, which completed</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">its version of the working draft two years ahead of schedule and under</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">budget, will continue its longstanding practice of making all of its</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">sequencing data available to public and privately funded researchers</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">worldwide at no cost. Celera Genomics, which makes its sequencing data</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">available by subscription, will also make its version of the consensus</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">human genome sequence available to non-subscribers upon publication.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">PRESIDENT CLINTON PLEDGES STRONG SUPPORT FOR GENETIC RESEARCH BY BOTH THE</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS. President Clinton reiterated the commitment of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">the United States to robust Federal support for basic scientific research</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">facilitating medical application of the science. President Clinton also</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">stated his support for a strong structure to review the medical, ethical</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">and other issues presented by the expected new power of genetic medicine,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">building on the multi-million dollar investment the Human Genome Project</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">already makes in research on the social, ethical and legal implications of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">this work. He recognized that research and development by biotechnology</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">companies will be key to the translation of human genome sequence data into</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">useful, new healthcare products and pledged to strengthen a business</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">environment that will spur research and development in this vital sector.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">The President also reaffirmed his support for patenting genetic discoveries</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">that have substantial and credible uses. By protecting and rewarding</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">investment in research, consistent with current law, this policy of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">intellectual property protection will promote rapid conversion of basic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">knowledge into useful applications, while at the same time allowing a</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">maximum free flow of basic scientific information.</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">TODAY'S ANNOUNCEMENT BUILDS ON THE CLINTON-GORE ADMINISTRATION'S STRONG</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">COMMITMENT TO PROTECTING PRIVATE GENETIC INFORMATION. Since 1997, the</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">President and Vice President have called for legislation that will</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">guarantee that Americans who are self-employed or otherwise buy health</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">insurance themselves will not lose or be denied that health insurance</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">because of their genetic makeup. Last winter, President Clinton signed an</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">executive order that prohibits every civilian Federal Department and agency</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">from using genetic information in any hiring or promotion action. This</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">historic action prevented critical information from genetic tests used to</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">help predict, prevent, and treat diseases, from being used against Federal</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">employees. In addition, President Clinton has endorsed the Genetic</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">Nondiscrimination in Health Insurance and Employment Act of 1999,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">introduced by Senator Daschle and Congresswoman Slaughter, that will extend</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">these employment protections to the private sector and finish the job of</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">helping to extend protections to individuals purchasing health insurance,</span>

<span style="font-size: 11pt">begun with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.</span>

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