Human genome mapping: a Jewish perspective.

The Human Genome Project Science in the twentieth century has launched three great projects: (1) the Manhattan Project for the development of nuclear weapons, which took place in the United States between 1942 and 1945 under the technical supervision of Robert Oppenheimer; (2) the American Space Project, which started in the late 1950’s and led to the landing on the moon in 1968; and (3) the Human Genome Project, which is being conducted now in thousands of laboratories throughout the world. The Human Genome Project is one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in the life sciences. Billions of dollars have been allocated to numerous research groups all over the world in order to produce a map of the thousands of genes which constitute the human genome. A complete genome map should fully reveal to us which nucleotide “words” control which clinical conditions in man; in other words, which genetic components imply biologic anomaly or greater sensitivity to malignant disease, and which components determine psychological or intellectual characteristics. When the mapping is complete, it will be possible to check the hundreds of thousands of genes in any individual and to decipher the genetic information contained in them. The vast pool of raw data inherent in any genetic mapping can serve to achieve either positive or negative goals. The knowledge contained in the genes has great predictive capacity regarding the individual’s future, namely his chances of spontaneously contracting specific diseases, such as heart disease or cancer, at various ages and his chances of achieving success in sports or in intellectual endeavors. It follows that the project has far-reaching ramifications in many areas of society, e.g., work relations, insurance, the army, medicine, and family relations. Such knowledge is so powerful that it can destroy