IOM report explores link between genomics and public health

IOM report explores link between genomics and public health

Since sequencing the human genome was completed in 2001, scientific and lay communities have focused on the genome's potential fueling breakthroughs in treating or curing disease on an individual, personalized basis. Yet the genome and its interactions with behavior, diet and environmental factors also "has the potential to powerfully affect the health and well-being of populations," according to an Institute of Medicine report released on April 5.

Although genomics has already proved its worth in improving detection, diagnosis, and treatment of relatively rare diseases like cystic fibrosis with a straightforward genetic basis, increasingly researchers of the future will use genomics to understand the complex genetic interactions behind chronic, widespread conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and depression, according to the report. Genomics could be used to determine which populations are most susceptible to these conditions, and which might especially benefit from certain treatments.

To read the full report by the Committee on Genomics and the Public's Health in the 21st Century, go to www.nap.edu/books/0309096073/html.

Source: Health Behavior Information Transfer (HABIT) newsletter, vol. 8, No. 5, May 3, 2005