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It is no surprise that Celera's progress is adding octane to the biotechnology sector. (The company's shares were up another 20% today after rising 54% yesterday.) With a slow and clumsy development process requiring up to 15 years and $500 million per drug to obtain approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the sector relies heavily on the successful development of various gene-based drugs for the treatment of diseases.
A genome is the complete collection of DNA -- the "blueprint" for construction and maintenance of an organism. A complete map of the human genome will help speed the efforts of the biotechnology companies by giving them an orderly framework with which to continue their research. This will reduce duplicated effort and provide a launching pad for more detailed biological and drug development research. Large and small biotechnology companies such as Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN), Immunex (Nasdaq: IMNX), Medimmune (Nasdaq: MEDI), Human Genome Sciences (Nasdaq: HGSI), and BioChem Pharma (Nasdaq: BCHE) stand to gain enormously from this type of information.
In a simplified analogy, this map will be similar to the service provided by Yahoo! in organizing the Internet. Celera's database will allow biotechnology researchers to search and manipulate the mountains of information it and other researchers are churning out. Like the Internet, this information is constantly being revised and will have to be continuously reorganized. Celera has already signed up five subscribers before its map is even complete, indicating the value of these services.
Despite all the hoopla, completion of sequencing is just the first mile in a never-ending marathon. A final map of the human genome will contain a well-organized description of each of the genes, their relative locations in the surrounding DNA, and a continuously updated log of scientific findings relevant to these genes. Completion of the sequencing phase includes the compilation of hundreds of thousands of small fragments of the genome. These fragments must still be pieced together by computers (like a jigsaw puzzle) into the correct order in an assembly and ordering phase. The final phase includes annotation of the genes with information generated by biological research. An up-to-date version of the complete map is expected to be completed by Celera in late 2000 or early 2001. Of course, after that, annotation will be ongoing for an indefinite period.
The importance of this information has resulted in contention between Celera and the researchers of the Human Genome Project, an international government consortium. Many academicians claim that Celera's research is sloppy and that they will slow progress by patenting key genes and insisting on fees for the use of these genes.
Today's announcement was coupled with a presentation by Dr. Craig Venter, President of Celera, at a hearing before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science to defend Celera against accusations that it is going to monopolize the map of the human genome by patenting the genes and keeping critical information secret.
In his statement to the Committee on Science, Venter defended the accuracy of the research by citing the 99.99% accuracy of Celera's recently completed fruit fly genome map. Venter also insisted that Celera's policy will be to allow free access to all the information on the human genome, except for competing companies that will copy and redistribute this information for sale. To reinforce this assertion, Venter cited the current availability of the fruit fly genome, which is now open and accessible to the public and researchers alike.
Whatever the outcome, it appears clear that Celera is moving quickly in its mapping of the human genome. Completion of this map will be a boon to the entire biotechnology industry in its efforts to fight disease. The viability of Celera's business model is still unproven, but the industry seems to be in great need of a standardized database that will increase the accuracy and efficiency of drug research based on the human genome.
Greg Carlin is a frequent contributor to The Motley Fool discussion boards under the screen name ElricSeven. Greg will be starting as a patent attorney in the fall at Alston & Bird. His recent report, "Biotech Pipeline Evaluation: Harvesting the Human Genome," is available for sale from FoolMart.
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