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16 a saturday june 1 2002 economist sun stouffville tribune health york region transplant patients await lifechanging operations human genome waiting for life to begin changes everything by lisa queen staff writer brandyn miller and mark black became buddies earlier this year a friendship sealed when they found themselves the youngest patients on toronto general hospitals waiting list for dou blelung and heart transplants mr miller a 23yearold aurora resi dent joined the list in january mr black a 24yearold moncton nb resident who was staying with an uncle in newmarket until he was admit ted to hospital in april has been on the list since last summer he wasnt expected to make it past 12 hours then he wasnt expected to make it past the first few months then two then five then eight then 10 its just been patchwork jobs all the way along to keep him alive although both mr miller and mr black have supportive friends and fami ly they have a unique friendship that stems from an understanding of what its like to be born with a medical condi tion that robs victims of normal healthy lives both were born with deformed hearts over time their lungs have been destroyed overworked as they try to oxygenate blood pumped from hearts too malformed to do the job properly the result mr miller said is blood as thick as ketchup he also copes with excruciating pain particularly in his legs in the middle of the night although there was a time as a child when he played tball and hide-and- seek with his friends stopping to regain his strength when he began turn ing blue his activities are far more limited these days mr miller goes out to nightclubs with friends occasionally they bicker about who gets to piggyback him on the short walk from the parking lot to the club because he gets too tired along the b w jjil g9ef staff photorob alary brandyn miller 23 was born with a deformed heart and was placed on a waiting list for doublelung and heart transplants in january way but most days find him at home he has made the most of his confine ment establishing a small business designing websites for clients his latest customer was the york region real estate board its a bit difficult its a bit frustrating but i get along mr miller said i deal with it the way i deal with it if i feel good i get out and do something but lately mr miller hasnt been feel ing good and so he spends his time waiting for an organ donor a process doctors told him could take two years when his mother suzanne miller was three weeks from her due date her doctor was worried about the health of her baby who was no longer growing inside her when he was born the full extent of his cardiac problems became evident including a malformed valve at the bot tom of his heart and lungs that werent connected to the pulmonary artery mr miller who was given an experi mental drug was born at scarborough centenary hospital but transferred to the hospital for sick children where he spent the first four months of his life at 12 hours old he had his first sur gery despite other treatments mr sec waiting page 18 expert warns by linda johnson staff writer the most important day of last year was not sept 11 life sciences expert juan enriquez told a gathering of business leaders in markham it was feb 12 the day the human genome was mapped for the first time mr enriquez director of the life sciences project at harvard universitys school of business was speaking thursday at the wisdom exchange a twoday forum for ontarios leading growth companies he told business leaders they will have to under stand the human genome if they want to be successful you dont have to be a microbiologist but you must understand the lan guage and make sure your kids understand it he said are there conse quences yes is it scary yes will it be easy to keep out no it changes everything thats why its so important for everyone to get literate and participate in the debate he said the full impact of genome research may not be known for decades or even centuries so on feb 12 last year suddenly we could all get on the internet and get a map of ourselves he said as he stood in front of a screen on which he had projected a picture of a sin gle human gene we may not have a clue where the process is going but it doesnt mean it hasnt already started he said more than at any other time in history mr enriquez said the ability to transmit data is the most important key to a success ful economy he compared the reading of the human gene to mankinds earlier progress from cavewall images through hiero glyphics chinese writing the 26character alphabet and finally to digital com bination in the 1950s and he warned business leaders against ignoring the coming revolution in gene technology are there consequences yes is it scary yes will it be easy to keep out no it changes everything you cant keep it out those who said this is the way ive done it for cen turies and i will continue to do it this way thats the way nations rise and fall the advance will likely be felt by all companies whether or not they are involved in life sciences mr enriquez predicted although it wont hit most companies direcdy he noted business could be affected by changes in healthcare costs the nature of medicine will change and the new cost of health care will affect your company he said adding the cost of drugs in canada now exceeds the cost of doctors business and govern ments worldwide must see brains page 18 strata tour professional golf balls 34 dozen nike air aberdeen ft 7999 ladies etonic expression topflite xl2000 st 3pw spalding tour mlh l6pc boxed set 39999 mrm mlm steel shafts deluxe staff travel cover wwheels csemcutt edge 3pw 29999 i 6999 steel reg 59999 reg 13999 aohvs wee mr mlh 84800 fidit dimarto jigolf clearance centre iisldlw mm 9054795077 mtomm s22j hwy 7 east sbbhb mxmmxmm www i 1 1 mmmmmmmtm wh5r wb i j u u fc m t- s j j 1 5 i f v v-