Getting personal: the promises and pitfalls of personalized medicine
2009; Elsevier BV; Volume: 154; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/j.trsl.2009.09.010
ISSN1931-5244
Autores Tópico(s)Genomics and Rare Diseases
ResumoM argaret Atwood, who is a novelist, cultural activist, and winner of the first Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction, had her own commentary on the utility and dangers of our entry into an age of personalizing the molecular. ‘‘We’ve just opened the biggest toy box in the world, which is the genetic code,’’ she quipped. That ‘‘toy box,’’ and its potential for refining and defining the way we will eventually diagnose and prevent disease, as well as target, test, and prescribe new medications, is the theme of this special issue of Translational Research. All of medicine, from its origins, might be considered personal, with each diagnosis and treatment tailored to an individual, qualified only by the background, skill, and art of the physician. But with new tools at hand, courtesy of molecular biology, that physician can now access a panoply of genetic data in Ms. Atwood’s box. Indeed, although Dr. Brewer argues in this issue for more resources focused on the rare ‘‘orphan’’ diseases based on comprehensive, individualized research and treatment, and Drs. Ginsburg and Willard emphasize that the molecular would best be combined with current clin-
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