Several years ago, Francis Collins, current director of the National Institutes of Health, described the coming era of personalized medicine as “medical Nirvana.” It’s a compelling vision, one that I fervently hope will be achieved. But it is taking such a long time to gain the necessary enlightenment, that it sometimes appears that this particular Nirvana is a fantasy. Where do things stand today?
Let’s remind ourselves of the three-part promise of personalized medicine. First, everyone’s genome will be sequenced cheaply and the sequence will be interpretable, and predictive. Second, the bulk of a person’s anticipated medical problems, discerned by analysis of the sequence, will be avoided by genetic, lifestyle or therapeutic means. And third, where a disease has to be treated, it will be done with medicines that are exquisitely tailored to both patient and ailment. No risk, no mess, no problem.
The reality (to date) has been dramatically ...
