Most of the time, people see doctors only after they have already experienced symptoms of a disease. Treatments can then be looked at as reactive—and by that I mean that they only begin after the disease has already started. But what would change if you knew there was a strong possibility of a patient becoming diabetic, or suffering from hypertension, or receiving a cancer diagnosis? How would that change treatment? It would allow doctors to treat illness in a way that best suits a specific patient.
To do this, you need to know the unique properties of a patient. Genomics makes this possible. There's a huge focus on genomics in personalized medicine, and it's easy to understand why. It is now a little more than ten years since the Human Genome Project was announced as completed—meaning that the human genome had been fully sequenced. Before this, we were familiar with DNA and how it makes each one of us unique. This specific project helped us learn about the genes in human beings, and how these genes express themselves provides clues to not only the cause of disease, but also how to treat them.
I drive a Hyundai Sonata. It's a fine car, and with any luck I'll never be on the side of the road wondering why my car won't move. But if something does need repair in my car one day, would I use parts from a Ford Focus? No, I can't. In many cases they simply wouldn't work or fit in my car. I'd need parts specifically designed for a Hyundai Sonata.
Now take it a step further. Say I get sick and need a kidney transplant. Current protocol would be to find a suitable donor and place their healthy organ into my body. But wouldn't it be better if I could create my own healthy kidney? At the very least it would minimize rejection issues. After all, who could possibly match my body as well as I could?
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