the advent of genomic medicine
:: to
take center stage in clinical medicine
Humans have known for millennia that heredity affects health. However, Mendel's seminal
contribution to the elucidation of the mechanisms by which heredity affects phenotype occurred
less than 150 years ago, and Garrod began applying this knowledge to human health only at the
start of the past century. For most of the 20th century, many medical practitioners viewed genetics
as an esoteric academic specialty; that view is now dangerously outdated.
Except for monozygotic twins, each person's genome is unique. All physicians will soon need
to understand the concept of genetic variability, its interactions with the environment, and
its implications for patient care. With the sequencing of the human genome only months from its
finish, the practice of medicine has now entered an era in which the individual patient's genome
will help determine the optimal approach to care, whether it is preventive, diagnostic, or therapeutic.
Genomics, which has quickly emerged as the central basic science of biomedical research, is poised
to take center stage in clinical medicine as well. >from "Genomic
Medicine. A Primer" by Alan E. Guttmacher, M.D., and Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.
The New England Journal of Medicine. Volume 347:1512-1520 November 7, 2002 Number 19
related context
> nhgri launches genome.gov. june 24,
2002
> ethical dilemmas
of human genome. may 23, 2002
> gene(sis): contemporary
art explores human genomics. april 5, 2002
> working draft of
the human genome. june 26th, 2000 |
