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UNDERSTAND THE FUTURE NOW<br />
AND APPLY IT IN YOUR PRACTICE<br />
PROF DR I C VERMA<br />
Advisor & Senior Consultant, Institute of Medical Genetics, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi<br />
The age of genomic medicine is upon us and<br />
we are rapidly moving into the era of precision<br />
medicine. Young clinicians should spend time to<br />
understand this technology and learn to interpret the<br />
results.<br />
Catching this technology at an early age will also<br />
help them significantly contribute to the society<br />
by helping patients who suffer from rare and yet<br />
undiagnosed diseases.<br />
Addressing the medical needs of such patients is<br />
one of the key responsibilities of the advanced medical<br />
world of today. But, unfortunately, this hasn’t yet got<br />
due attention from the young and emerging clinicians<br />
here, unlike in the West.<br />
In the western world, the need for addressing<br />
rare and undiagnosed diseases, which are mostly<br />
connected with genetic causes, has got serious<br />
attention from the clinician community, especially the<br />
young who are keen to devote time for research. This<br />
is not only satisfying intellectually, but also translates<br />
into financial gains if a new therapy is discovered.<br />
Genetics and genomic studies have a lot more to<br />
do in order to address rare and undiagnosed diseases.<br />
But, sadly the current medical curriculum in India is<br />
not geared to prepare students to understand or apply<br />
genomics in healthcare.<br />
In the UK, they are carrying out genomic studies<br />
in 100,000 people at present, while in the US it<br />
is an extensive study in about 1 million people,<br />
to understand the interplay of genetics and the<br />
environment to cause diseases.<br />
Understanding this would lead to the development<br />
of novel and precise preventive, therapeutic and<br />
curative approaches. Moving a step ahead, the UK has<br />
already announced that genomics will henceforth be a<br />
part and parcel of national health services.<br />
The younger generation in this profession, if<br />
equipped with new and emerging technologies, can<br />
contribute to the critical needs of patients who have<br />
genetic as well as currently incurable diseases.<br />
Precision medicine — the concept of tailoring the<br />
medicine to the genetic as well as environmental<br />
attributes of the patient —is the future. Be prepared<br />
for it and apply it in your practice today.<br />
— As told to CH Unnikrishnan<br />
98 / FUTURE MEDICINE / May 2019
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