[Editors note:Raymond De Vries is co-director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan. Tom Tomlinson is a professor in the Department of Philosophy and the director of the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciencesat Michigan State University.]
Personalized medicine, which involves tailoring health care to each persons unique genetic makeup, has the potential to transform how we diagnose, prevent and treat disease. After all, no two people are alike. Mapping a persons unique susceptibility to disease and targeting the right treatment has deservedly been welcomed as a new power to heal.
New technologies are allowing us to probe DNA, RNA, proteins and gut bacteria in a way that will change our understanding of health and disease. Our hope is to discover novel biological markers that can be used to diagnose and treat common chronic conditions, including Alzheimers disease, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
But when it comes to preventing the leading causes of death which include chronic diseases, genomics and precision medicine may not do as much as we hope.
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Despite the inherent limitations to the ability of genomic medicine to transform health care, medicine in the future should unquestionably aspire to be personal.Genomics and molecular biosciences will need to be used holistically in the context of a persons health, beliefs and attitudes to fulfill their power to greatly enhance medicine.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Soon, Medication Will be Custom Tailored to Your Specific Genetics
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