Impact of genomics on diagnostic medicine

✍ Scribed by John D. Burczak; Francis E. Wilkinson; David J. Robbins

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 147 KB
• Volume: 41
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0272-4391
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2299(199707/08)41:3/4<193::aid-ddr9>3.0.co;2-g

✦ Synopsis

The interaction of genes underpins all physiological processes, in health as well as disease. Diagnostic medicine, which functions to aid in the evaluation of an individual's health, will benefit significantly from genomic research. Genomic databases and bioinformatics are emerging as valuable tools for the discovery of genotypic and phenotypic diagnostic markers. These tools have already led to the discovery of genes related to colorectal cancer, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, and a variety of other diseases. Gene sequence information yields insight into the identity and function of unknown genes, while comparison of gene expression patterns among normal and diseased tissues helps define the role of specific genes in a disease. The concomitant development of genomic technologies, such as DNA arrays for rapid analysis of multiple genes, are enhancing the discovery and evaluation of potential diagnostic markers. These technologies allow multiple diagnostic leads to be evaluated at once, to achieve an economy of scale as well as allow analysis of complex gene interactions. There are several challenges for genomics in the area of diagnostics, including the discovery and analysis of low-level expression genes and the development of versatile genetic testing instrumentation. As these challenges are overcome, the impact of genomics on diagnostic medicine will escalate.