Medical Science and Genomic Disappointments

A June 12 article in the New York Times entitled “A Decade Later, Genetic Map Yields Few New Cures” makes the case that 10 years of genomic research have been profoundly disappointing. Announced with fanfare by then-President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2000, the mapping of the human genome was expected to reveal the root genetic causes of diverse, serious diseases, and engender therapeutic insights, targeted treatments and elusive cures.

That the cures have not yet ensued is perhaps neither cause for surprise nor disappointment — as this was always expected to take some time. After all, the work on cures for genetic diseases cannot begin in earnest until the culpable genes have been indicted. The disappointment, rather, is that the ranks of such genetic culprits are surprisingly thin.

The problem is not with the map of the genome, which is largely all it was claimed to be. Rather, the notion that specific variants of specific genes can be identified as the “cause” of a cancer, or of Alzheimer’s disease, may simply be wrong. In many cases, the relevant genetic variants may be rare and difficult to find. In many more, there may be multiple genes involved rather than one.

Full Story: David Katz, M.D.: The Cup of Life: Medical Science and Genomic Disappointments.