Personalized Medicine & The Human Genome
Personalized medicine is an emerging practice of medicine that uses an individual's genetic profile to guide decisions made in regard to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Knowledge of a patient's genetic profile can help doctors select the proper medication or therapy and administer it using the proper dose or regimen. Personalized medicine is being advanced through data from the Human Genome Project.
The Gerstein Science Information Centre is currently exhibiting books on Personalized Medicine & the Human Genome. Check one of these exciting titles out now!
Some Titles on Display
The Language of Life by Publication Date: 2010With fluid prose and compelling narratives, Collins makes modern medical science vivid and accessible. This book sets out hope without hype, and will enrich the mind and uplift the heart.--Jerome Groopman, M.D.
The Decision Tree by Publication Date: 2010In The Decision Tree, Thomas Goetz proposes a new strategy for thinking about health, one that applies cutting-edge technology and sound science to put us at the center of the equation.
The $1,000 Genome by ISBN: 1416569596Publication Date: 2010To research the story of this unfolding revolution, critically acclaimed science writer Kevin Davies has spent the past few years traveling to the leading centers and interviewing the entrepreneurs and pioneers in the race to achieve the $1,000 genome. He vividly brings to life the extraordinary drama of this grand scientific achievement, revealing the masterful ingenuity that has transformed the process of decoding DNA and delivering the information it possesses to the public at large. Davies also profiles the future of genomic medicine and thoughtfully explores the many pressing issues raised by the tidal wave of personal genetic information. Will your privacy be protected? Will you be pressured, by insurance companies or by your employer, to get your genome sequenced? What psychological toll might there be to discovering you are at risk for certain diseases like Alzheimer's? And will the government or the medical establishment come between you and your genome? One thing that is not in question is that we are moving swiftly into the personalized medicine era, and The $1,000 Genome is an essential guide to this brave new future.
Personal Genomics and Personalized Medicine by Publication Date: 2010This book explains how a confluence of recent biological, technological and methodological developments is making it possible to provide personalized diagnoses and treatments.
Investigating the Human Genome by Publication Date: 2011Leading medical genetics scholar Moyra Smith reviews current and recent work in genetics and genomics to assess progress in understanding human variation and the pathogenesis of common and rare diseases in which genetics plays a role.
Genetic Explanations by Publication Date: 2013Can genes determine which fifty-year-old will succumb to Alzheimer's, which citizen will turn out on voting day, and which child will be marked for a life of crime? Yes, according to the Internet, a few scientific studies, and some in the biotechnology industry who should know better. Sheldon Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber gather a team of genetic experts to argue that treating genes as the holy grail of our physical being is a patently unscientific endeavor.
How to Build a Better Human by Publication Date: 2012In How to Build a Better Human, prominent bioethicist Gregory E. Pence argues that people, if we are careful and ethical, can use genetics, biotechnology, and medicine to improve ourselves, and that we should publicly study what people are doing covertly.
Could Tissue Engineering Mean Personalized Medicine?
Each of our bodies is utterly unique, which is a lovely thought until it comes to treating an illness — when every body reacts differently, often unpredictably, to standard treatment. Tissue engineer Nina Tandon talks about a possible solution: Using pluripotent stem cells to make personalized models of organs on which to test new drugs and treatments, and storing them on computer chips. (Call it extremely personalized medicine.)
Experts Debate Personalized Medicine on TVO's The Agenda
A primer on the promises and pitfalls of the next revolution in healthcare. Since the mapping of the human genome in 2000, we've heard a lot about the promise of genetics in the field of medicine. Today, we're on the threshold of seeing personalized medicine become a reality. How will genomics revolutionize health care? Where is the science at? And when can we realistically expect our personal DNA to deliver the key to longevity and good health?
Genetics 101 from Khan Academy
Personalized medicine: genes, biomarkers and tailored treatment
Personalized medicine is gaining recognition due to limitations with standard diagnosis and treatment; many areas of medicine, from cancer to psychiatry, are moving towards tailored treatment for individual patients based on their genetic signatures and clinical characteristics. Advances in whole genome sequencing have allowed the identification of genes involved in a large number of diseases, and biomarkers that indicate disease severity or susceptibility to treatment are increasingly being characterized.
The continued identification of new genes and biomarkers specific to disease subtypes and individual patients is essential for translation into personalized medicine, in terms of estimating both disease risk and response to therapy.
This article collection covers recent advances in personalized medicine across all areas of medical science and clinical practice, demonstrating that patient-tailored treatment is being employed for some diseases, whereas more work is required to translate scientific advances into the clinic for others.
BMC's Personalized medicine: genes, biomarkers and tailored treatment article collection can be freely accessed here:
http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmed/series/personalized_medicine