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Describe the methodology of The Resilience Project.
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A systematic approach to study all childhood inherited diseases with severe symptoms and known genetic alterations, by including diverse populations and aiming to study one million individuals.
What was a key discovery made during the speaker's career in oncology at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia?
The discovery of the first cancer susceptibility gene after encountering a father and son with inherited retinoblastoma.
What has been the progress of The Resilience Project in terms of sample collection and findings?
The project has collaborated with various institutions to collect over 500,000 samples and identified dozens of strong candidate 'unexpected heroes'.
How is The Resilience Project planning to engage the public and why is this important?
By encouraging public participation and sharing of genetic information to successfully extend the research to adult diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
What advancements have made The Resilience Project feasible?
Significant reduction in data generation and analysis costs, new tools in network biology and systems biology, and willingness of researchers and institutions to collaborate.
What collaborative advantages are highlighted for The Resilience Project?
The willingness of researchers and institutions to join in an open, crowd-sourced project and collaborate broadly.
What shift in research focus is proposed to improve disease prevention?
Shifting focus to study individuals who stay healthy despite having genetic risks for diseases, rather than only studying those who are sick.
Provide an example from the 1980s-1990s where individuals exhibited resilience to a disease despite a high-risk factor.
During the AIDS epidemic, some individuals with high HIV levels did not develop AIDS due to protective genetic mutations.
Why is drug development still considered inefficient despite advancements in genetic diagnostics?
Most genetic changes are loss of function, making it difficult to develop drugs that can restore the lost function.
What is the primary objective of The Resilience Project?
To find individuals with genetic factors that protect against severe childhood inherited diseases.
What is a key aspect of the 'missing half' in genetic research according to the lecture?
Finding and decoding resilience factors in individuals who do not exhibit symptoms despite having genetic risks for diseases.
What long-term goals does The Resilience Project aim to achieve?
Designing preventive therapies and extending research to adult diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's through collective effort and an open-source approach.
What was Helen Hobbs' significant finding related to high lipid levels and heart disease?
She identified protective mutations in individuals with high lipid levels who did not develop heart disease.
Why is an open-source approach important for the future directions of The Resilience Project?
It encourages sharing and collaboration, which can lead to a broader impact and faster advancements in research.
What phase is The Resilience Project entering to find more resilient individuals?
The beta phase, where they are seeking prospective individuals for further study.
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