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Scientist hopes to dispel gene myths

Scientific adviser Bertrand Jordan talks to the Taipei Times. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

A French scientific adviser yesterday urged geneticists in Taiwan to make the integration of individual research results and the elimination of common myths about the discipline their priorities.

Bertrand Jordan, a former director of the Center of Immunology at Marseilles-Luminy (CIML) in France, arrived in Taiwan last week to act as a National Science Council (NSC) adviser on Taiwan's National Genome Project.

Scientists from the NSC, Academia Sinica and the National Research Institute will contribute to the project, which was launched this year. Research topics will range from genomic medicine to ethical, legal and social issues relating to genetic research. In addition, core facilities, such as special labs, would be established at Academia Sinica.

After evaluating research applications for the project, Jordan told the Taipei Times that integrating individual research results would help Taiwan develop a bigger picture of the discipline.

"People have to collaborate more to develop common projects involving two or three groups," said Jordan, who has acted as a bridge for scientific groups between Taiwan and France for a decade.

Jordan says Taiwan has certain advantages in developing genome research, including a wealth of well-trained scientists returning from the US and a government willing to make investments in the field.

Some NT$2.6 billion has been budgeted for Taiwan's genome project this year, and the same amount of money has been allocated for next year and 2004.

"In France, we have a somewhat similar genome project with approximately the same budget, but we have two to three times Taiwan's population," Jordan said.

Although Taiwan's genome project is in its early stages, it is significant that the nation has realized the field's importance, Jordan said.

John Kung (孔祥智), a research fellow at the Institute of Molecular Biology at Academia Sinica, told the Taipei Times yesterday that the individual research tradition established in Taiwan needs to be transformed and an infrastructure built for integrating diverse results.

Jordan added that Taiwanese scientists should be encouraged to explain their discipline to the public in order to counter the belief that everything is determined by genes.

Jordan said he is worried about false interpretations of genetics being spread by the media, which may lack comprehension of the subject.

In the past, Jordan said, exaggerated claims have been made about the potential impact of the human genomic research and ambiguous information has been presented by the media about the genetic link between diseases and chromosomes.

"For example, gene determinists welcome the misinterpretation by the press about the suggested linkage between chromosome region and male homosexuality," Jordan said, adding that the influence of genes is not always responsible for certain behaviors or diseases.

A growing scientific and popular emphasis on the link between genes and behavior has contributed to a resurgence of behavioral genetic determinism, Jordan said.

Jordan began serving as Marseille-Genopole's project coordinator two years ago after he retired from the Center of Immunology at Marseilles-Luminy. Jordan has written popular books on genetics examining the implications of behavioral genetics research.

Jordan aims to correct myths about genetics, in particular the tendency to attribute everything from homosexuality to criminal activity to genes rather than environmental influence.
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