Johns Hopkins establishes center to study ELSI of applying genomics to infectious disease treatment

The National Human Genome Research Institute has selected the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics to establish a “Center of Excellence” to study the ethical, legal and social implications (ELSI) of genomic research. The Berman Institute will receive three years of funding to build on its multidisciplinary expertise in the ethics of humangenomics and public health, bringing the fields together in the largely unexplored but crucial study of genomics as applied to infectious disease. The center will be known as GUIDE: Genomic Uses in Infectious Disease & Epidemics. Pandemic scares in recent years, from SARS to influenza to MERS, necessitate this research, says Gail Geller, a co-principal investigator for GUIDE and faculty member at the Berman Institute. “Infectious diseases account for a significant proportion of illness and death worldwide, across all aspects of society,” Geller notes. Recent research has suggested that a person’s genes can play a significant role in the...