5th Annual International
Gene Forum 2004
"Genomics to Medicine"
September 17-18, 2004, in Tartu, Estonia

The fifth international two-day conference Gene Forum 2004 brought together the top scientists of the field of epidemiology, genetics, genomics and biotechnology to discuss how genomics changes medicine. The speakers of the forum subtitled "Genomics to Medicine" assured that genomics will gradually become part of the everyday medicine. In the near future genomics has more and more profound impact both in therapeutic medicine and healthcare planning.

Prof. Toivo Maimets, minister of education and research

The fifth international conference on biotechnology organised by the Estonian Genome Foundation, held from September 17-18, discussed the possibilities of applying genetics and biotechnology in medicine. More than 350 scientists, physicians, students, health care officials, investors and business executives, one fifth of them from the other Baltic States, Scandinavia, Western Europe, North America, Japan and Australia, participated in the forum.

The forum was opened by Prof. Toivo Maimets, minister of education and research, who acknowledged the organizers of the fifth high-level international conference for developing a clear trademark for the forum - a distinguished list of speakers. Minister expressed his hope that among the audience were scientists and researchers who are able to participate in unravelling the secrets of the human genome and come up with novel methods of fighting diseases.

Prof. Andres Metspalu

"After five years of work and with the help of about 100 distinguished speakers who have been presenting in Tartu, a university town since 1632, a word about the high-level programme has reached the human genetics world," said the head of the Scientific Programme Committee of Gene Forum 2004, Prof. Andres Metspalu. "Personal contacts and one-to-one meetings are very important in the world of science, because it will create a solid foundation to start a successful cooperation both in EU Research Area and regarding other international projects," added Prof. Metspalu.

In the opening session of the conference Prof. Lyle J. Palmer, Director of Busselton Population Medical Research Foundation Laboratory of Western Australia stressed the importance of population-based genetics research. According to Prof. Palmer only countries with total population data and family record linkage, so that all those with and without disease can be studied in an unbiased way throughout the whole life span, have the highest chances of success in applying genomic knowledge and tools in clinical and public health settings. Such linkages and resources already exist in Western Australia, where both public and private efforts have resulted in a fruitful cooperation allowing to monitor population for all major diseases/conditions, their risk and protective factors, and the use and role of health services studied. In addition to new scientific and public health resources the project offers an opportunity to educate people about the genetics and diseases.

Associate Director of Epidemiology of National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Dr. Kathleen R. Merikangas sees public dissemination of knowledge regarding risk estimation and changing of lifestyle as important as discovering disease related genes. For example people tend to continue smoking or drinking while being aware of the fact that they are susceptible to specific condition, where smoking or drinking contributes to the development of the disease. Dr Merikangas suggested that we should prioritize our research and not spend enormous resources on genetics of smoking. Instead we have to focus on breast cancer, type I diabetes, sclerosis multiplex and autism, because genetic research has the highest chance in unravelling the causes of these diseases.

Dr. Martin Godbout

The session organised in cooperation with Estonian Biotechnology Association explored different models of organising high-tech research and its commercialisation. Prof. Martin Godbout, President and CEO of Genome Canada gave an overview how Canadian government has provided resources for developing research and cooperation in the field of biotechnology. Dr. Hannu Hanhijärvi, Director of SITRA Life Sciences, presented the Finnish model of providing seed and early stage financing for biotech in Finland. Mr. Raul Malmstein, Development Advisor to the Government of Estonia described the Estonian vision of developing a knowledge-based economy. Mr. Malmstein stressed the importance of balancing interests of different parties and creating trust between universities, companies and research institutes. On the other hand Mr. Malmstein considered competition between institutions as well as individual researchers acting as the main motivator of growth and development. Estonian Government is working on a state venture capital fund that should bridge the financing cap in the seed and early stages and attract more aggressive capital to Estonian financial market. However, an impact to the overall economy in GDP terms is not significant, if the number of projects is around 5-6 in a year.

Several speakers discussed the problems and opportunities arising from the HapMap. Prof. Maido Remm, Head of department of bioinformatics at the University of Tartu, gave an overview of marker association in human genome, which should reduce significantly the cost of studies in the future.

Speakers of the forum also gave talks on genetics of specific diseases, including type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, psoriasis, anxiety, inflammatory bowel disease and immune system.

Prof. Nicolas Rose

The last speaker of the forum, professor Nicolas Rose of London School of Economics and Political Science, explored the potential social consequences of the increasing ability of genetic testing to identify susceptibilities to disease prior to the appearance of symptoms. Prof. Rose argued that this will create an 'emergent form of life' - that is to say, a form of life where (1) the distinctions between cure, treatment, prevention and enhancement can no longer be sustained (2) in which the remit of clinical medicine is further extended beyond the cure of diseases to the management of risk, and (3) where individuals, families and collectivities reshape their identities, in whole or in part, in the light of beliefs about their genetic predispositions and susceptibilities.

The Gene Forum 2004 hosted traditionally a biobusiness seminar organised in cooperation with Connect Estonia, where speakers from Scandinavia and the United Kingdom presented their experience of biotech business development and human resources management. In addition about 10 companies from Estonia and other European countries presented in the exhibition hall during the forum.