Precision medicine
Health care that is tailored on the basis of an individual’s genes, lifestyle and environment is not a uniquely modern concept. But advances in genetics and the growing availability of health data for researchers and physicians promise to make this new era of medicine more personalized than ever before.
For more on precision medicine from nature.com, see: nature.com/subjects/health-care
Nature is pleased to acknowledge financial support from Illumina, Inc. in producing this Outlook. The sponsor retains sole reponsibility for the following message.
At Illumina, our mission is to improve human health by unlocking the power of the genome. This Nature Outlook explores how precision medicine is advancing this mission. Just in the past few years, new tools have been developed that enable surveying the genome for alterations that drive and exacerbate disease, put us at risk for disease, and predict our response to therapy. And although there is nothing more personal than our individual genetic codes, ironically, it will take nothing less than a global collective effort to share and analyze genomic information to gain actionable insights.
We can anticipate that the rate at which we’ll uncover the mechanisms of many diseases will outpace our collective ability to learn, disseminate, and regulate new knowledge. Fortunately, the discovery of biomarkers and new therapies can proceed while important infrastructure needs and issues such as data privacy and integrity are being addressed. We are proud to sponsor Nature Outlook: Precision Medicine and look forward to the discussions it will spark.
We applaud and are inspired by the global efforts focused on the realization of precision medicine through understanding the genome. We thank you all—researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and patients.
