The Reference Shelf: Personalized Medicine

Medicine changes rapidly, with the introduction of new technologies, pharmaceuticals, and treatments, but one of the frontiers of modern medicine is the idea that treatments and treatment approaches might be more effective and less destructive if interventions and treatments could be individualized. This concept, often called "personalized medicine," is a medical approach that tailors aspects of disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to a person’s genetic profile and environment. Using data from genomic testing and screening patients for gene variants can help to make medical intervention more effective, while disease prevention might be made more potent by tailoring strategies to a person’s lifestyle and social/physical environment. This concept has been enlivening debates over the present and future of medicine in America and around the world.