When it comes to epigenetics, keep your optimism under control
Posted Apr 09 2010 12:00am
If you’ve been hoping that research in the field of epigenetics is going to bring us a cure for prostate cancer in the next few years, dream on!
The term “ epigenetics ” refers to inheritable changes in the phenotype or physical expression of a specific gene caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence.
A recent article in The Scientist gives the skinny on the exact state of drug discovery within the epigenetics/biotech community. Basically, it’s barely got off of the starting blocks although where it has done so it is at least in the cancer arena.
On the up-side, “The epigenome regulates transcription, so eventually, epigenetics can be targeted for almost any kind of disease,” says researcher Yi Zhang of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (The “epigenome” is a term used to describe the overall epigenetic state of a specific cell.)
On the down-side, “It’s hard not to wonder whether the promise of epigenetic drugs is as overhyped as the promise of drugs based on genomics, which have delivered a disappointing yield,” writes Alla Katsnelson (paraphrasing people like Mark Levin, the former CEO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and now a venture capitalist).
If you’ve been hoping that research in the field of epigenetics is going to bring us a cure for prostate cancer in the next few years, dream on!
The term “ epigenetics ” refers to inheritable changes in the phenotype or physical expression of a specific gene caused by mechanisms other than changes in the underlying DNA sequence.
A recent article in The Scientist gives the skinny on the exact state of drug discovery within the epigenetics/biotech community. Basically, it’s barely got off of the starting blocks although where it has done so it is at least in the cancer arena.
On the up-side, “The epigenome regulates transcription, so eventually, epigenetics can be targeted for almost any kind of disease,” says researcher Yi Zhang of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (The “epigenome” is a term used to describe the overall epigenetic state of a specific cell.)
On the down-side, “It’s hard not to wonder whether the promise of epigenetic drugs is as overhyped as the promise of drugs based on genomics, which have delivered a disappointing yield,” writes Alla Katsnelson (paraphrasing people like Mark Levin, the former CEO of Millennium Pharmaceuticals and now a venture capitalist).