The human genome: cause to remember our humanity

This article is based on the closing address given by Dr. Mitchell Spellman on behalf of Harvard Medical International at the third biennial Asan Medical Center-Harvard Medical International Symposium titled "Genetics and Proteomics: Impact on Medicine and Health" that took place at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, Korea, July 3-4, 2001. Dr. Spellman's remarks were addressed to a distinguished gathering that included President Changgi D. Hong and President Emeritus Pyung Chul Min of Asan Medical Center; President Emeritus Mun Ho Lee of Asan Medical Center, who is currently President, Korea Cancer Research Foundation; Secretary General Chul Lee of the Organizing Committee for the Symposium; Dr. Won Jong Kim, Dean of the University of Ulsan College of Medicine; Dr. Je Guen Chi, President of the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences; and the Faculty of the Symposium, together with colleagues, guests, and friends. First, Dr. Spellman reminds participants of the breadth of topics presented during the third biennial symposium. He then discourses on the inestimable worth of the sequencing of the human genome and how such knowledge provides us with the opportunity to consider the meaning and dimensions of humanity-biological, social, and ethical.