Attempt to exploit DNA of 'superman' caused by mutation, such as having no pain, strong bone without fracture, etc. for medicine development

ByUS Air Force

Some people acquire the characteristics of missing common sense, such as "people who do not feel pain" and "people with abnormally high density bones". Movements trying to utilize the characteristics of such "superhuman" for pharmaceutical development are spreading mainly from pharmaceutical companies.

These Superhumans Are Real and Their DNA Could Be Worth Billions - Bloomberg Business
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-22/these-superhumans-are-real-and-their-dna-could-be-worth-billions

Steven Pete has a special body that does not feel any pain at all even if a piece of glass sticks to the skin or a hot stove is touched. This is a special symptom caused by DNA mutation "congenital insensitivity", it seems to be a characteristic only a few dozen people in the world have. There are other people who have such unusual characteristics, and Timothy Dreyer has a skeleton with a high bone density that is walkable, even in a fractured state.

In recent years, with the progress of genetic research, it is known that "special ability" like Ms. Pete and Mr. Dreyer is caused by a slight difference caused in DNA, and by studying this DNA information, It is expected to develop new medicines. In other words, by studying Pete's characteristics, you can develop an addictive drug that is not addictive like morphine, or you can develop a new drug that increases bone mineral density in osteoporotic patients by studying the characteristics of Mr. Dreya It is thought that.

ByMicah Baldwin

The technique of utilizing DNA information for the development of new drugs is widespread, and the worldwide pharmaceutical company has a move to acquire companies and laboratories having success in genetic research one after another. For example, Amgen, a pharmaceutical company, has acquired Iceland's biotechnology company DeCode Genetics for $ 415 million (about 50 billion yen) in 2012, but the greatest objective of the acquisition is the DNA research assets of DeCode Genetics And sell a cheap DNA test kit23 and MeIt is thought that it is in the data of the user's DNA information that we have stored in collaboration with. By analyzing and studying these DNA information, it will lead to the development of new drugs.

Between 1990 and 2003, it was analyzed with a huge cost of 3 billion dollars (about 360 billion yen) in totalHuman genomeHowever, as of 2015, the cost of scanning the sequence of one human genome is 1,000 dollars (about 120,000 yen), the examination cost dramatically declined. For this reason,Development of personalized medicine customized for that patient will also be a big market in the futureIt is also seen.

Google-supported genetic analysis service "23 and Me" develops new drugs with customer's genetic information - GIGAZINE


As mentioned earlier, attempts to analyze genetic information of people with "characteristic" who have been separated from ordinary people are being actively carried out in pharmaceutical companies, but ironically, the results are not returned to "superhumans" . Characteristic of not feeling pain in the first place has the risk of making it difficult to understand the expression of diseases and the characteristic that it has abnormally high bone density also carries the risk that bone growth will not stop, It is a strange symptom even if it is accredited as ill ".

However, drugs that pharmaceutical companies want to develop are drugs that can be expected to sell a lot because of the utility of the public, and because drugs that are effective only for minorities are not profitable, the structural problem that the motivation to develop is extremely low There is. In other words, there is a sad reality that it is rare for a pharmaceutical company to develop drugs to elevate bone density of osteoporosis, but to ease the symptoms of "superhuman" whose bone density is too high is.