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When President Obama uttered the words “Precision Medicine” in the state-of-the-union address, I scoffed at a politician’s finally noticing a field that’s been around for decades: medical genetics. Was it another case of rebranding, as chemistry has morphed into nanotech? But the definition of Precision Medicine that has emerged is, well, precise: “An approach to disease treatment and prevention that seeks to maximize effectiveness by taking into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle.”
The recent publication of the Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program has convinced me that the PMI is perhaps the best research idea I’ve ever heard, dwarfing even the human genome project in its potential. A vast wealth of eclectic information will be amassed from a million volunteers who represent the nation’s diversity. They will donate blood and other tissue samples, such as nails and hair, to a biobank and actively participate at all stages.
The PMI Cohort Program may turn the practice of medicine on its head, and in so many ways, at so many levels, that my own head feels ready to explode with possibilities. Many of the ideas aren’t new, but the scale and scope are. Clinical trials will be able to better select participants most likely to benefit from new therapies, based on the molecular pathology of the condition and a person’s specific genotype.
Read full, original post: Precision Medicine: Much More Than Just Genetics
