BLUE GENES                                                   Richard J B Willis

BUC Health Ministries Director

Genes are in the news again.  Hardly a day goes by without a gene being identified for this, that or the other.  Like London buses, you cannot find one if you want one and then three come along at the same time!  GRK3, 5-HTT, and CREB1 have just been announced.

GRK3 is thought to be the gene associated with manic-depression.  Defects in this gene might make people oversensitive to the chemical messages that result in the condition.  Whilst GRK3 is currently in the spotlight the researchers estimate that there could be dozens of genes involved in the disease process.  With there being around 2.3 million Americans with manic-depression the research from the University of California (San Diego) cannot have come too soon.

It was New Zealand scientists who found 5-HTT.  They believe that it helps to control the brain chemical serotonin one of the messenger chemicals between brain cells and which affects mood.  There are two versions of 5-HTT carried by each of us – a long or a short form.  People with two short genes are more likely to become depressed when experiencing the stresses of life (43% of people in the study whilst only 17% of those with two long genes became depressed).

A University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) team discovered CREB1 and showed that a mutation on this gene causes severe depression in women.  The mutation may even run in families.  Whilst men also carry the gene it does not cause depression in them since it is the interaction of CREB1 protein and oestrogen receptors in women that lies at the heart of the problem.  Animal studies show that the exact amount of CREB1 present is co-related to depression rates.  Finding out what switches the gene on/off may lead to an effective treatment.

The likelihood of having abnormalities in the genes listed above are relatively small and it is likely that combinations of genes are the mechanisms for our various ailments.  At this stage in the research, with so few people taking part in the trials, the research findings are not definitive.  The do show, however, that clinical scientists are serious about finding the basic causes of the problems that beset us.  If genes can be positively identified and their mechanism of action understood it could be possible to redress some of 'natures' bad deals or to formulate drugs with the capacity to negate the genetic effects.

Whatever we may think of genetic modification or therapy it is remarkable that the alphabet soup of the human genome is open to scrutiny and understanding.  That it can sometimes be very precise is also a cause for thanksgiving.  Rather than be gloomy about our genetic future prospects, let us be grateful, among other things, that research is lifting the blues and opening the full rainbow spectra of gene comprehension to us.