Fingerprints for cancer

The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) meeting kicked off this week in Philadelphia with a brushstroke. Several prominent geneticists -- including the ASHG's president Aravinda Chakravarti, president-elect Edward McCabe, and Allan Award winner Haig Kazazian -- rolled up their sleeves and grabbed a paint palette on Wednesday (Nov. 12) in a bid to help children coping with cancer.

ASHG president-elect Edward McCabe stands proudly next to his masterpiece

Hosted by Expression Analysis, a biotech company specializing in microarray technologies, the "Leave Your Fingerprint on the Cure" fundraising campaign asked the meeting's participants to help complete a 40 square foot mural by painting flowers and pinwheels, with the artists' fingerprints at the center of their creations. In return, Expression Analysis pledged to donate $10 per fingerprint to Cure Kids Cancer, an organization that helps children battling cancer find appropriate hospitals close to home.

"It's fanciful, but as a pediatrician, I enjoy being child-like," McCabe, a molecular geneticist at the University of California, Los Angeles, Mattel Children's Hospital, told The Scientist. "We believe that through these kinds of approaches, we'll get to personalized medicine for kids," he added.

ASHG president Aravinda Chakravarti leaves his fingerprint on the cure

What is a cancer-treatment fundraiser doing at a meeting of genetic researchers? "The American Society of Human Genetics is becoming more relevant to all aspects of human health," Chakravarti, a molecular geneticist at Johns Hopkins University, told The Scientist. "I think it's important to raise money for [treating cancer], not just for research."

"We believe that genomic technologies can play a significant role in diagnosis, treatment, and management of complex disease," added Steve McPhail, president and CEO of Expression Analysis. "And there is no complex disease that we'd rather address than pediatric cancer."

With a thumbprint, University of Pennsylvania's Haig Kazazian does his bit to raise money for cancer treatment

The mural's four panels, each around 2 feet by 5 feet, remained in the exhibitor hall for three days for anyone with an artistic -- and philanthropic -- urge to contribute. Today (Nov. 14), the finished painting will be donated to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), along with a "substantial donation" to Cure Kids Cancer on behalf of CHOP that is "right now north of 10,000 [dollars]," said Expression Analysis's director of marketing Karen Michailo. Michailo expects additional individual and corporate donations to bump up the total contribution.