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Although the influence of heredity on human disease is known since classic Greece, only in relatively recent times Mendel established the basis of genetics and even more recently, Garrod 1 initiated the application of this knowledge to human health. For several decades, genetics have performed a very important role in disease management of a small number of patients and a small management role for the majority of patients. Nevertheless, with the completion of the Human Genome Project, several doors were simultaneously opened leading to the application of this knowledge to the health of most humans. We are precisely in the transition fro m Genetics, which studies isolated genes and their effects on health, toward Genomics, which deals with the function and interaction of all genes in health. Both terms represent the extremes of a continuum, without a clear boundary. Genomics is the most important tool we have now to understand common multifactorial diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative and metabolic diseases, etc. Also, it represents a new paradigm for diagnosis and prognosis that, together with the new strategies of high throughput screening, will ultimately lead us to personalized medicine.

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2011-05-09   |   630 visitas   |   Evalua este artículo 0 valoraciones

Vol. 62 Núm.5. Septiembre-Octubre 2010 Pags. 391-392 Rev Invest Clin 2010; 62(5-ENGLISH)