Genetics in Georgia | New Georgia Encyclopedia

The recent sequencing of the human genome has accelerated scientific discoveries in genetics related to medicine and animal and plant science. Research universities in Georgia, supported by government funding and collaborations with private industry, conduct leading-edge research that contributes to improved prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of genetically caused diseases. The Georgia Research Alliance, a university, business, and government partnership, has been a key supporter of genetics research through eminent scholars, research laboratories and equipment, and technology incubators. Newborn Genetics Screening The state of Georgia has paid for newborn genetics screening since 1978. The program, developed in collaboration with the Emory University School of Medicine's Department of Human Genetics and Genetics Laboratory, tests all Georgia newborns for thirteen inherited diseases, including metabolic diseases. Emory, located in Atlanta, is one of the nation's leading research and treatment centers for inherited diseases, including lysosomal enzyme diseases, fragile X syndrome, and Down syndrome. Emory scientists are leaders in developing new enzyme replacement therapies for children born with Gaucher disease and Fabry disease, screening and treatment for maple syrup urine disease, and FISH technology (fluorescence in situ hybridization, which allows physicians to look for chromosomal abnormalities under a microscope). Emory's large staff of genetics counselors works with parents and prospective parents at centers throughout the state. In addition, genetics counseling and screening to predict adult cancers has developed rapidly since scientists discovered altered genes that increase the risk of breast, ovarian, and colon cancers. University Genetics Research Several of Georgia's research universities have extensive research centers focused on genetics. The Department of Human Genetics at the Emory University School of Medicine includes both laboratory research and clinical treatment programs in one of the largest academic genetics departments in the nation. Emory has the world's largest research program on fragile X syndrome to be funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The gene responsible for fragile X syndrome, the most common cause of inherited mental retardation, was discovered by Emory professor Steven T. Warren, who led an international team of scientists. Warren and his team also have developed screening techniques and are working on potential new therapies for fragile X syndrome, which affects 3,500 individuals in Georgia either directly or as carriers. Emory geneticist Stephanie Sherman's discovery of what is known as the "Sherman Paradox," in which genetic diseases caused by the triplet repeat of amino acids are not passed on to offspring with the usual probabilities common among most genetic disorders, has been invaluable in helping physicians predict risk for these genetic diseases. Through support from the NIH, scientists at Emory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have conducted sixteen years of research on the causes and clinical consequences of Down syndrome through the Atlanta Down Syndrome Project. All Atlanta-area newborns with Down syndrome and their parents are eligible to participate in the project. In 2000 the NIH expanded the Atlanta project into the National Down Syndrome Project by adding five other research centers (in Arkansas, California, Iowa, New Jersey, and New York). The Department of Genetics at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens includes many faculty who teach genetics to undergraduate and graduate students. Graduate research and training includes molecular genetics, evolutionary biology, and genomics. Four genetics faculty members are also members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.

The UGA Center for Applied Genetic Technologies (CAGT) brings together diverse expertise in plant and animal genomics, DNA markers, and transformation (a process of genetic alteration) and provides state-of-the-art facilities and instrumentation. Within CAGT are research labs and the Georgia BioBusiness Center incubator, which supports start-up companies in the biosciences by providing them access to management expertise and sophisticated instrumentation.

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Genetics in Georgia | New Georgia Encyclopedia