Tailoring Treatments to Individual Genomes

Precision medicine uses advancements in genomics, through the study of genes and their functions. The human genome, is composed of around 20,000-25,000 genes, which carries the instructions for building/maintaining the body. Variations in these genes greatly impact how individuals respond to diseases and treatments. This is noticeable as different demographics of people can respond to treatment differently. For example,  Hispanic individuals may be more likely to get a cold compared to an Asian individual. 

The Human Genome Project in 2003 was a honorable moment in this field. It made a comprehensive map of all the genes in the human genome. Therefore it helped scientists to begin understanding the genetic basis of diseases. Also, economically the cost of sequencing a genome has drastically decreased, which made it more accessible for research and clinical functions.

The most doctype impacts of precision medicine concern how we approach the treatment of cancer. The old ways of treating cancer, say chemotherapy, work well, but it does have some horrific side effects and is not that effective. Thanks to precision medicine, treatments today can be targeted based on the genetic mutation taking place in a patient's tumor. A number of drugs have been developed or modified to target specific genetic abnormalities present in the cells of patients suffering from particular types of breast cancer, including trastuzumab. 

Moreover, pharmacogenomics has huge potential for personalized medicine based on the role of genes in affecting an individual's drug response and may, in the future, enable more precise determinations of which drugs and dosages will be most effective for specific patients. It helps reduce trial-and-error methods to determine the most appropriate treatment for a particular patient. Besides, several forms of the gene CYP2C19 might alter the reaction of a patient to some drugs like clopidogrel, an antiplatelet drug.

There is a bright future in personalized medicine. With the different ways technology advances, the ways that human genomes are understood will be much stronger in offering personalized treatments to people. Initiatives on personalized medication through programs are taken. The All of Us Research Program initiated by the National Institute of Health, for example, aimed to collect health data from more than a million persons in order to inform research and thereby promote improvement in health through innovation in precision medicine.