DNA Analysis in Human Health
DNA analysis in human health in the post genomic era is one of APEC-wide foresight projects. The APEC Center for Technology Foresight, a Center established and supported through ISTWG and hosted by Thailand, has successfully completed 5 APEC-wide foresight projects. Developments in gene technology and their applications, DNA analysis in human health, were noted as a very high priority for ISTWG members in a 1997-survey of opinions of important topics for foresight studies. Since that time, ISTWG has supported a number of biotechnology, including DNA analysis for human health in the post genomic era projects, and has expressed the view that a foresight project of gene technology, DNA analysis for human health, would be timely and valuable.
The APEC Center for Technology Foresight has received funding from the APEC Central Fund for a Foresight study of “DNA Analysis for Human Health in the Post- Genomic Era”. This paper reviews the background to the study and the available Foresight studies that have been carried out in the area in order to provide a framework for the present project.
Over recent years there has been intensive research towards the understanding of genes, DNA analysis in human health, and their link to diseases and the mapping of the human genome. This opens the way to a new approach to biology, a new way to consider human disease, new avenues for drug development and drastic changes in health care systems. The implications for the next decades are enormous and there are many issues-scientific, industrial, social and ethical- which need to be addressed. Foresight provides a way to tackle such a complex set of issues as demonstrated in the recent project on “Nanotechnology: the technology for the 21st century” completed in 2002 (APECTF 2002). This DNA analysis in human health in the post genomic era project was complete at the end of the year 2003.
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