Why the future lies in a back-to-basics approach

Is basic research being neglected in Spain? Manuel Palacin, whose research has identified genes that carry renal disorders, believes it is.

Spanish scientist Manuel Palac!n is concerned that the Spanish government is neglecting basic research in favour of applied research and technology transfer. He believes this is due to the fact that politicians are always under pressure to show the tangible results of their policies and are by nature short-termists, while basic research is a long-term game.

He also sees this bias in European Union research policy and points to the European Commission's 5th Framework Programme on Biomedicine as an example. "We are under constant pressure from our government and Europe to do research that will generate resources," he says.

Together with Antonio Zorzano, Palac!n leads a research team of biochemists and molecular biologists at Barcelona University. One of their research projects is identifying the genes that are transporters of amino acids and that cause the hereditary renal absorption disorders cystinuria and lysinuric protein intolerance (LPI). Cystinuria is a fairly common disease whose incidence varies from one in 200,000 people in Scandinavian countries to one in 7,000 in Mediterranean countries. Sufferers develop kidney stones and, if untreated, the disorder can lead to kidney failure. LPI is a much rarer but more serious condition that can retard growth and cause mental handicap.

Palac!n's team made its initial breakthrough in 1992 when it managed to clone rBAT, one of the first amino-acid transporter genes to be identified in mammals. The scientists suspected it of being one of the causes of cystinuria and proved their hypothesis in 1994.

Last year, a second gene, a sub-unit of rBAT known as SLC7A9, that causes a different type of cystinuria was identified as well as SLC7A7, the gene that causes LPI. The team has also managed to pinpoint several mutations of these genes. "We have analysed 130 patients and found 30 new mutations, which between them account for 80 per cent of cases," Palac!n says.

Future aims of the project are to determine whether there is a third gene involved in causing cystinuria and how the transporter mechanism works. "This is significant because once you know what is the relationship between a molecule's structure and its function, you can design drugs that can inhibit or speed it up," Palac!n explains.

He believes it is essential for scientists to keep abreast of progress in basic research. People who dedicate themselves solely to applications in a narrow field may see their work becoming obsolete as it is rapidly overtaken by the advance of knowledge.

Palac!n believes that enforcing a rigid division between basic and applied research is a mistake, as you can never know which scientific discovery will suddenly become important.

"It is very difficult to predict the future, the only thing you can do is to be fully prepared with the widest range of information possible and great versatility to adapt as things change," he says.