Mapping the human genome: an interview with Professor Vanessa Hayes

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02 Sep 2011
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What do Adam Spencer, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Professor Vanessa Hayes have in common?

Find out here.

Professor Vanessa Hayes has done it all. The awards and achievements she has accomplished in Australia and internationally are near unrivalled. Her work in gene discovery to battle disease has revealed the first indigenous African genomes, including that of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, unlocking the secrets of disease and cancer.

Speaking at the 2011 Cancer Institute NSW Premier's Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research, Professor Hayes spoke about her work researching the genetic profile to define risk in prostate cancer.

Although we are trying to understand disease, we also need to turn that around and work out what makes a healthy person

"Prostate cancer is a disease that is very common, but it has the highest incidence and mortality rates among those with African ancestry. People of Asian ancestry have the lowest incidence and mortality.

"This is knowledge we need to base our research on because it tells us there is a genomic profile that is linking these risk factors," she told MC of the event Adam Spencer, presenter of 702 ABC Sydney breakfast.

From genotypes to phenotypes, Professor Hayes has examined the differences in these to make sense of who we are, our characteristics, traits and diseases we are diagnosed with. The approach she takes to her work is unlike any other - she takes a common paradigm and turns it on its head.

"Although we are trying to understand disease, we also need to turn that around and work out what makes a healthy person," she said.

Professor Hayes says it is no longer science fiction to think that patients will be able to go to their GP and have their DNA sequenced.

"This is a five to 10 year plan. We have to bring the cost down, and be able to work with the data a lot better...but when we get to that point it will be a reality," she said.

Watch the interview to find out more about the difference between genotypes and phenotypes mapping the human genome, and how some of us are actually part Neanderthal.

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