The National Institutes of Health is slated to receive $215 million with the hope of individualizing medical treatments by using patients genetic information.
In his State of the Union address on Jan. 20, President Barack Obama announced the Precision Medical Initiative, a program with the goal of enabling doctors to better understand diseases through genetic sequencing of patients and ultimately choose better treatments. In cancer treatment, for example, a patients tumor might be sequenced to uncover the specific mutations causing the disease, and physicians will use that information to select the right drug or predict which will be most effective. The approach has gained traction in the treatment of cancer and rare genetic diseases, but is not available for all patients and is yet to be widely applied to other diseases.
Precision medicine, using genomic information in a way that affects their clinical decisions about care, is already here and now, said Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, which carried out the Human Genome Project and is now working to apply that research to solve medical problems. This is not science fiction, but we are just starting to ascend this mountain. This will be a very long climb, but once we get to the top, you will see genomics being used all over the place.
Green said genetic sequencing in cancer and rare genetic disease treatment saves valuable time and money.
According to professor of medical oncology and Associate Director of the Yale Cancer Center Roy Herbst 84, Yale is already using genome sequencing to personalize treatments and predict the effectiveness of drugs for patients at the cancer center, allowing physicians to find the right drug, for the right patient, at the right time.
But the hope is for the practice to reach a larger population of cancer patients than it does now and ultimately to apply genome sequencing to other diseases.
According to Green, the latter will be more complicated. With diseases like diabetes, arthritis and hypertension, there is a complex interplay between environmental and genetic factors. But the complexity of figuring out how to use genetics in those more complex diseases makes for an even stronger argument to create the Precision Medical Initiative, he added.
Dean of the Yale School of Medicine Robert Alpern said that although the possibility to improve treatment for cancer and other diseases is there, more funding is still needed.
Were at this somewhat frustrating point where the science has never been in a better position to create ways for us to cure diseases that, frankly, when I went to medical school I thought could never be cured, and now theres not enough money, he said. The NIH budget just doesnt keep up with inflation. Were at a point where we can do so much and the money has never been so limited.
Alpern added that Yale is a leader in the use of genomics in personalized medicine the University even has a genome center on West Campus and is primed to turn additional funding into breakthroughs.
Continued here:
A promising personalized medicine initiative, but little funding
- IOM not webcast today. Why Not? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- National Academies skeptical at Best. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Some Confusion Exists - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Why DTC Genomics IS Medicine. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- First Mari, Now Linda. Who's next? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Is it true? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Re-Reviewing the National Academies - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- The problem with nonclinicians....... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Crazy Night of Emails to Government - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Adrienne Carlson's Personalized Medicine. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Tell Me, How do you feel now? Sherpa's RX - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- This Just In. 23andMe to go to GPs. I love my readers!! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Sorry so long away - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- 2D6 Rears its ugly head..... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Ok, Fine, Back to Plavix - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Kaiser a protoype for Collins' Aim - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- A few months late to the party.... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Stated Another Way....... - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Excuse Me? Harvard and Navigenics? WTF? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Follow up to Yesterday's WTF? Harvard, Navi? and Pfizer??? - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Did you get your kit? Thanks Dr. Rob from MedCo - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Gluco...Wha? Parkinson's Disease and Glucocerebrosidase mutations. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Away and now back, What did I miss???? 23andme layoffs? Selling Genomes for cheap up next! - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Change IS Needed. I agree with William, sometimes. - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Good Enough Science? Apparently so at 23andme - November 8th, 2009 [November 8th, 2009]
- Long QT Syndrome, location matters - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Congratulations Generation Health. Nice pick up! - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- An argument 23andSerge can't win...23andme but not medicine - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Stop. Breathe. Repeat. An analysis of the direction of DTC Genomics Field. - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Hey DTC genomics, Stay Private, Stay Alive, Go Public and Die - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- You can't have it both way. Either scared your genome is sold off or not. - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- 15 Days Away Gives Time for Perspective. - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- What about the SACGHS registry? Another missed opportunity? - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- AJHG is in and my Favorite Muin is in it! But He Is NOT the Father! - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Navigenics for 23andMe prices? - December 18th, 2009 [December 18th, 2009]
- Lp(a) Maybe there's something there that wasn't there before? - December 24th, 2009 [December 24th, 2009]
- Another Year, Another Bankruptcy - December 31st, 2009 [December 31st, 2009]
- 5 Technologies going bye bye in this decade? - January 6th, 2010 [January 6th, 2010]
- Hackers, HITECH and HIPAA in DTC Genomics, Oh My! - January 7th, 2010 [January 7th, 2010]
- Personal Genomics Flop.....big Belly Flop! - January 8th, 2010 [January 8th, 2010]
- Gotta Love It. Even the daycare....... - January 11th, 2010 [January 11th, 2010]
- Congratulations Navigenics. You ARE a clinical lab! Uh-Oh... - January 12th, 2010 [January 12th, 2010]
- CETP, Jewish Centenarians and Alzheimers - January 14th, 2010 [January 14th, 2010]
- Enter the "Not" DTC Genomics Rep - January 17th, 2010 [January 17th, 2010]
- Why Dr. Vanier's Navigenics appointment is good for PM - January 22nd, 2010 [January 22nd, 2010]
- Holy Crap! MedCo Follows in CVS footsteps - February 3rd, 2010 [February 3rd, 2010]
- FDA, Warfarin, still not as sexy to me. - February 5th, 2010 [February 5th, 2010]
- Hype, Hype, Hype from a single study. - February 11th, 2010 [February 11th, 2010]
- I love my readers, even Renata M! - February 17th, 2010 [February 17th, 2010]
- How can insurers use DTC genomics to profile? - February 17th, 2010 [February 17th, 2010]
- 9p21.....ahem. Paynter et.al. Smackdown. Again. - February 18th, 2010 [February 18th, 2010]
- Hey! It's Pete Hulick! Are you Going to GET? - February 19th, 2010 [February 19th, 2010]
- I was wrong......AHEM - February 28th, 2010 [February 28th, 2010]
- G2C2, finally a tool for genomic education! - March 2nd, 2010 [March 2nd, 2010]
- Just 4 million? What 23andMe is worth. - March 5th, 2010 [March 5th, 2010]
- What a difference a year makes - March 9th, 2010 [March 9th, 2010]
- ........DTC Genomic Medicine? - March 12th, 2010 [March 12th, 2010]
- The FDA, 2c19 and the ACC - March 13th, 2010 [March 13th, 2010]
- The problem with Comparative Whole Genomics...... - March 13th, 2010 [March 13th, 2010]
- BRCA testing by 23andME is the same as Myriad Genetics. - March 15th, 2010 [March 15th, 2010]
- The Argument Against DTC Genomics Marketing and such - March 16th, 2010 [March 16th, 2010]
- A moment of Clarity. Some DTCG is not bad. - March 18th, 2010 [March 18th, 2010]
- SNPs for breast cancer risk? It Depends. - March 18th, 2010 [March 18th, 2010]
- How can MDVIP use Navigenics Test for Medicine? - March 18th, 2010 [March 18th, 2010]
- Why did P&G invest in Navigenics? - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- PGx in DTCG? Doesn't stand up to Useful testing. - March 25th, 2010 [March 25th, 2010]
- End of Gene Patents? - March 29th, 2010 [March 29th, 2010]
- Sherpa Accepting Chief Medical Officership - April 3rd, 2010 [April 3rd, 2010]
- The Rumors of My Death........ - April 20th, 2010 [April 20th, 2010]
- Happy DNA Day! - April 25th, 2010 [April 25th, 2010]
- 99 USD, DNA day and patient letters - April 25th, 2010 [April 25th, 2010]
- 2C19, Navigenics and Clinical Reality. - May 1st, 2010 [May 1st, 2010]
- Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative rising - May 7th, 2010 [May 7th, 2010]
- Personal Genomes in Clinical Care. Quake paper is a waste! - May 11th, 2010 [May 11th, 2010]
- Personal Genomes in Clinical Care. Quake paper Falls Short! - May 13th, 2010 [May 13th, 2010]
- Last post edited by Drew - May 13th, 2010 [May 13th, 2010]
- GateKeeper? FCUK U! - May 13th, 2010 [May 13th, 2010]
- GateKeeper? F! U! - May 15th, 2010 [May 15th, 2010]
- Potential of genomic medicine, LOST - May 19th, 2010 [May 19th, 2010]
- How Bad Can a House Investigation be for DTC Genomics? - May 20th, 2010 [May 20th, 2010]