The role of genomics in medicine: A look at pros and cons – Kalkine Media

The term genomics sounds quite interesting, although it is mainly confused with genetics. Genetics refers to the study of genes, whereas genomics is a broader term which encompasses the study of an organisms entire set of genes (genome).

Some facts to know

Do read: What is genetic engineering and how can it benefit healthcare?

Exploiting genomics in medicine

Genomic medicine is a speciality of medical science that uses an individual's genomic information to make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. Some of the recent advances in genomic medicine are discussed below:

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Precision medicine

Precision medicine exploits an individual's genetic information for disease diagnosis and treatment. However, it doesn't only consider the genome but utilises other factors such as the environment of a person and their health history.

Precision medicine bypasses the 'one size fits all' approaches that are the same for everyone and develops individual-specific approaches.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)

CRISPR is a gene editing tool and can be simply compared with a text editor, for a clear understanding. Also known as 'molecular scissors', the technique is used to edit genetic code. CRISPR shines a ray of hope in treating fatal diseases, including cancer and HIV.

Despite its great potential in medical science, the technique holds several apprehensions and questionable applications. Due to this reason, CRISPR is currently considered non-ethical in human beings and is banned in several countries, including the USA.

Gene therapy

Gene therapy involves the insertion of a healthy foreign genetic material into a person's cell to treat a disease. It is a one-shot cure as it corrects the underlying genetic cause of disease.

The first CAR T-cell-based gene therapy got approval in 2017 in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Gene therapies also hold a promising future for cancer treatment.

Concerns regarding gene-based techniques

Also read: Telix (ASX: TLX) adds new asset in its cancer treatment pipeline

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The role of genomics in medicine: A look at pros and cons - Kalkine Media