Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Genetics - Personalized Medicine (initial 5Mar; followup 7Mar)

Read one or more of the following.  What do you think about personalized medicine?  Is it a good idea? Might it cause more harm than good?  Is it worth the effort and commitment of government funding?  Initial response by 5Mar; followup with 2 of your classmates by 7Mar.


A Never-Ending Genetic Quest - NYTimes.com
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/science/mary-claire-kings-pioneering-gene-work-from-breast-cancer-to-human-rights.html?referrer=

3Feb15    NYTimes: A Path for Precision Medicine

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/health/a-path-for-precision-medicine.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share
The budget President Obama sent to Congress would establish a coordinated way for researchers to get genetic and clinical data on a million people.

31Jan15   U.S. to Collect Genetic Data to Hone Care - NYTimes.com

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/us/obama-to-unveil-research-initiative-aiming-to-develop-tailored-medical-treatments.html?referrer=
 
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown09 March, 2015 14:04

    On paper, personalized medicine looks good. But with what Obama was implying kind of scares me, in that this can possibly turn the world into a Gattaca-like realm. I do think that the use of personalized medicine would definitely benefit in determining genetic factors for diseases like heart disease and cancer, but it looked as if the genome would determine much more. Yes, a lot of research can be done to further science, but I believe this will be taken advantage of. They were going to offer $1000 to find out your own genome, and Obama asserted that we can determine what we are able to do with our genes.... that sounds a lot like social placement to me. I think they have the right idea in determining any genetic factors behind diseases, but I must say this worries me a little.

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    Replies
    1. Unknown12 March, 2015 16:38

      I agree with Zach that this sounds wonderful on paper but has the ability to be misused in such a way that it creates a "gattaca-like" society. Personalized medicine offers the ability to specifically treat a patient based off of their on physiology, genes, and disease. This could revolutionize medicine as we know it. But my fear is that with this revolution comes those who want to manipulate it for profit or other ulterior motives. As in the first article, a company attempted to patent a breast cancer gene/test in order to make money. That's the sick thing with modern society (at least in the US) solidarity is lost out of love for money.

      In my opinion, personalized medicine could do some much more good than harm provided it was accessible to all people, no matter their walks of life. However, if this is not the case, then I feel that the bad will eventually outweigh the good. Any time greed reigns supreme, the outcome is never positive.

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