Compromisos con el futuro del Proyecto Genoma Humano / Current Options for the Human Genome Project

The goal of the V International Meeting on the Human Genome Project, organized by the BBVA Foundation in partnership with the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, was to elucidate and debate the medical, technological and social impact of our advancing knowledge of the human genome in these opening years of the third millennium. This book brings together the papers given by leading scientific specialists on the most relevant advances in the field of the human genome, including its structural organization, function, evolution and relationship to disease and ageing.

These advances open up new avenues for the therapeutic application of genetic manipulation which will help shape the molecular medicine of the future. The scientific-technical developments springing from the genome’s discovery have brought such important achievements as the obtention of transgenic plants and animals, and the technological capability to clone complex animals like mammals.

However, they have also caused a degree of social unease which was also debated at this encounter. Knowledge of the human genome and its code as applied to the development of DNA chips is expected to shortly revolutionise the field of biology, just as conventional chips have revolutionised electronics. The reader of this book will find an up-to-date explanation of the most exciting developments in human genome knowledge regarding both its basic aspects and its medical, technological and social implications.