News that the human genome has been sequenced has excited both scientists and the public, but what does this mean and how will the information be used to improve medicine?
Several Miami Project scientists are using genetic tools to study SCI and develop regeneration strategies. Daniel Liebl, Ph.D., has brought new expertise in genetic strategies, including understanding what developing nervous systems can teach us about promoting regeneration. “One of the most important blueprints that we have for injury and therapy is the developing nervous system,” he says. In his work, he must first identify the genes that help enhance or repress the expression and then study the gene’s function. “Having the human genome template there and being able to just pull out the gene takes years and years off of the research,” adds Liebl.
Other scientists are working with this new information to apply gene therapy to SCI. Mary Bartlett Bunge, Ph.D. has added genes to Schwann cells and by genetically instructing the cells, has shown that engineered Schwann cells stimulate more nerve growth. Mary Eaton, Ph.D. has also used a similar strategy to combat pain. Eaton developed nerve cell lines that secrete growth factors or neurotransmitters and has grafted these cells near the spinal cord surface in rats to reverse hypersensitivity to painful and non-painful stimuli caused by injury to the sciatic nerve.
Another type of gene therapy involving changing the genes of a person or animal directly is being pursued in the lab of Martin Oudega, Ph.D. to exploit the ability that viruses have to infect cells. Based on this research and work, scientists can exchange the viral genes for therapeutic genes they hope will improve function.
Lastly, a new tool being used to address the complexity of the nervous system and the difficulty of identifying genes that are “turned on” in specific situations including normal function, injury, and after therapy is called a DNA-array or a gene chip. This information holds the potential to allow the development of new therapies in more direct and effective ways than have ever been possible.