Some believe that personalized medicine is the wave of the future, while others believe it is tampering with the livelihood of human existence. Is this the key to future cures for disease or is this the door to ending our existence as we know it? Researchers have argued the pros and cons of personalized medicine and genetic testing. Let’s begin by getting an understanding of personalized medicine and genetic testing. Personalized Medicine has been defined as “medicine tailored to a specific patient’s genetic code”.
Genetic Testing is defined as “the act of taking cells from saliva, blood, or skin and determining the body’s genetic make up from those cells”. (Trish Torrey, About. com Guide May 2010) Business Wire article (Feb 2010) describes personalized medicine as individualized treatment to match the right drug to the right patient and, in some cases, even to design the appropriate treatment for a patient according to his/her genotype. Personalized medicine is used in two aspects of human medicine which are genetic testing for potential abnormalities and tailoring treatment.
(Trish Torrey, About. com Guide May 2010) Dr. Raymond DuBois at M. D. Anderson’s Institute for Personalized Cancer Therapy believes that personalized medicine requires more than recording a patient’s health history. It requires sequencing DNA to investigate whether and individual has a certain disease and how that person will respond to medication. (Meredith Simons Washington Bureau Nov 2009) Once a test is developed which determines abnormalities in human genes, this is when treatments can be developed.
Once treatments are developed for a particular abnormality it will be used to treat all with the same genetic abnormality. (Trish Torrey, About. com Guide May 2010) When it comes to the reliability of genetic testing for blood evidence, parent identification or prenatal determinations it has been established that these testing’s have proven themselves time and time again. (Trish Torrey, About. com Guide May 2010) Officials at UC Berkeley had an idea to ask new students to volunteer a DNA swab as part of an orientation program.
They did this to raise questions regarding personalized medicine. In doing this they received an enormous amount of criticism stating they were unethical. The samples would be used to analyze gene variations that affect people’s reactions to three dietary substances: lactose, folic acid, and alcohol. The project promised that only the participants would be able to find out their own individual results and then the sample would be destroyed. (Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times). Tests are not really accurate because there are no measures in place.
There is no way to know whether the test performed was right or wrong, because no steps were taken to develop it. There are concerns regarding what will happen with the samples once testing is complete. According to geneticists, you own the information, but it is controlled by others. It can also belong to the test developer in which case they can use the sample as they see fit. Currently there are few laws that govern genetic information and genetic discrimination. The laws at present don’t determine how the information is used.
Advocates say that personalized medicine can reduce unnecessary suffering and expense by minimizing the chance of adverse drug reactions. Experts caution that it’s premature to say that an era of individually customized medicine has arrived. Major scientific and policy hurdles remain before patients can benefit widely from promises of personalized medicine. Issues of insurance coverage, medical training, privacy and safety remain to be unresolved. (Robert S. Boyd McClatchy, Tribune News Service 2009).
There are now high-speed sequencing machines to decode genome samples, while second generation robotic machines analyze hundreds of thousands of units of DNA in minutes. This has drastically decreased the costs involved. Questions arise for those tests which have not yet proven their value. Even when a gene can be aligned with a certain disease, and even if it can be determined that someone possesses that version of a gene, which does not guarantee that person will develop the disease.
In conclusion, Scientists and researchers are definitely interested in making sure genetic testing takes place as they develop more and more approaches to personalized medicine. The more testing that takes place, the more evidence they have for procedures, processes and treatments that may or may not work. (Trish Torrey, About. com Guide May 2010) References Gordon, Larry. “UC Berkeley’s plan to test DNA sparks debate; Privacy activists criticize campus’ offer to analyze gene of upcoming students.. ” Los Angeles Times. 01 Jun 2010 AA1.
Medicine: Research brings patients better, faster cancer treatments. Houston Chronicle. 15 Nov. 2009: 1. eLibrary. Web. 03 Aug. 2010. “Research and Markets: Personalized Medicine – Scientific and Commercial Aspects. ” Business Wire. 08 Jul. 2010:n/a S. Boyd McClatchy Newspapers. “Genome advances promise personalized medical treatment. ” McClatchy – Tribune News Service. 18 Nov. 2009 Trisha Torrey. About. com Guide “The Pros and Cons of Genetic Testing” 19 May 2010. Trisha Torrey. About. com Guide. “ An Overview of Genetic Testing and Personalized Medicine. 17 May 2010.