26 The HEALTH | January-February . 2024

Harnessing the human genome is the future of healthcare

Johnson & Johnson ’ s partnership with the largest human genome sequencing project in the world will increase scientists ’ understanding of genetic diseases and help create new interventions

BY�BARBARA BR��Y

GENETICALLY speaking , humans are 99.5-99.9 per cent identical to one another . That remaining 0.1-0.5 per cent of unique genetic material ? It helps make us who we are .

It ’ s responsible for a number of traits you can see , like your hair colour , as well as many that you can ’ t , including disease risk . In the past few decades , scientists have made numerous advances in teasing out how such variability connects to human health , but they ’ ve merely scratched the surface .

Now , the entire field of genetics ( which focuses on single genes and their effects on phenotype ) and genomics ( the study of how all genes and their interactions influence an organism ’ s biology ) is about to get turbocharged .

On Nov 30 , 2023 the UK Biobank Whole Genome Sequencing ( WGS ) Project unveiled data from the whole genome sequencing of its 500,000 volunteer participants . This monumental feat , in which Johnson & Johnson played a major role , means that approved researchers will have access to an unprecedented amount of data that can be used to speed novel discoveries . “ Sequencing ” technology to identify every component that makes up a person ’ s genome enables scientists to uncover gene variants that may predispose an individual to a certain disease or make them more or less likely to respond to a specific treatment .

“ The size of this database is phenomenal ,” says Trevor Howe , Ph . D ., Director , External

Innovation , R & D Data Science & Digital Health and Fellow , Translational Genomics at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine . “ It contains not only the genomic sequences of half a million volunteers but also links that data to extensive patient hospital health records , providing an end-to-end look at a patient ’ s overall health journey . If we can link genetics with health outcomes , we can better understand the drivers of disease which enable us to develop and deliver more targeted therapies to treat them .”

This study from UK Biobank , a comprehensive biomedical database that launched in 2012 ( after scientists began recruiting participants from 2006 to 2010 ), would not have been possible without the foundations laid by earlier generations of genetic and genomic research .

Here ’ s a look at some key milestones in the quest to harness DNA

1953

The double helix is discovered

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1977

� �� scientist de�e��s t�e first DNA sequencing technique

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I� �� S�� E�� C�� T�� S�� S�� H� �� A��

1989

��e first �ene �in�ed to a disease emerges

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The Health January/February 2024 | Page 26

Johnson & Johnson ’ s partnership with the largest human genome sequencing project in the world will increase scientists ’ understanding of genetic diseases and help create new interventions

Innovation

26 The HEALTH | January-February . 2024

Harnessing the human genome is the future of healthcare

Johnson & Johnson ’ s partnership with the largest human genome sequencing project in the world will increase scientists ’ understanding of genetic diseases and help create new interventions

GENETICALLY speaking , humans are 99.5-99.9 per cent identical to one another . That remaining 0.1-0.5 per cent of unique genetic material ? It helps make us who we are .

Here ’ s a look at some key milestones in the quest to harness DNA

1953

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1977

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1989

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