The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a biomedical research organization that is known around the world for its contribution to research in nature and genetics. Their main goal is to improve the life of people everywhere in the world, especially in developing countries. They strive to diminish the amount of diseases and disabilities that are spread or passed down world wide. They have an entire organization called National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) that has led the global Human Genome Project. This project provided a reference sequence of the human genome as a whole. Now, in the medical field, they are able to improve medicine and medical techniques by comparing the whole genome to that of people who have a disability or disease.
In the lecture, sickle cell anemia (SCA) was mentioned and how it has a correlation with the malaria parasite prevalence. The NHGRI is looking more specifically at the development of leg ulcers due to the anemia. They’re examining the disease using many factors that are a part of anthropology like genomic but also the affect of society and microbiology. The participants in the study have to provide a family history along with bloodwork and psychological assessments, this will provide a broader picture of the patient as a whole. SCA is one of over 100 clinical studies that the institution is currently working on.
NHGRI has also aided in the work of Epigenomics, how the environment influences the genome. For example, during the winter of 1945, the Germans stopped supplying food to the Netherlands. There was little study back then but they noted that the mothers who were pregnant during this winter were severely malnourished. Although the mothers gained the weight back and became healthy again. They found that those children grew up with a higher than normal frequency of obesity and diabetes. The NHGRI was able to prove that the babies born back in the 40s passed down the “altered methylation patterns in the DNA” to their children without changing the actual DNA sequence. So even though the third generation was not directly involved in what they called the “Dutch hunger winter,” they still felt the effects of it due to their parents. So the parents suffered a significant environmental hardship, and their children were still affected by it due to their parents.
It’s fairly evident that our genome can tell us and doctors about our family and ancestral history. In the last two decades, the NHGRI has developed a technique that allows tiny bits of DNA from ancient specimens like “bones or fur or soil”. This data has provided information about the genomes of the earliest human ancestors, dating back to over five hundred thousand years ago. Even things as simple as our sleep cycles can be seen genetically. The article says “Europeans still carry Neanderthal-like sequences that influence their circadian rhythms, making them more likely to be a morning person or a ‘night owl.’” In the lecture we talked about natural selection and how beneficial inheritable traits are passed down, and the DNA from the neanderthals showed similar sequences as europeans, these sequences affecting sleeping patterns. The NHGRI has helped develop so many techniques that not only give us insight into our history as a species but also to aid in the betterment of our health and our lives overall.
citation: National Human Genome Research Institute Home | NHGRI. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.genome.gov/
Hello Page, I really enjoyed reading your post and feel that you made many great points. Living in America, I feel that I tend to forget how important it is to help the developing countries. That is why I think it’s great that The NHGRI main goal is to improve the lives of people everywhere in the world, especially in developing countries. Its important to know how the environment influences the genome. I like the example that you provided about the pregnant mothers. It’s interesting how they were able to learn that although the mothers were malnourished there children grew to be obese or diabetic. Its important that we are constantly improving as a society which is why its important that we are working on bettering our health so we may have healthier longer lives than our ancestors.