In the State of Union address, President Obama announced his plans, still in development, to launch a Precision Medicine Initiative. What is that? Generally speaking – this is the dream of personalized medicine. Treatments and medicines would be, in the future, tailored to an individuals biology. Genetic factors, such as how fast one might metabolize a drug, or how one’s cancerous tumor might respond to one set of chemical compounds compared to another, are a big part of the “precision medicine” puzzle.
Several excellent writers have tackled this question, and we have provided some links below. If you want to learn more about this topic, or teach it to your students – pgEd has resources for you. Want an overview of the issues, with some short, interesting videos? Check out “What is personalized medicine?” for a concise and informative read. Need a longer lesson plan, complete with notes, readings, activities and assessments? “Personalized Medicine” is one of our most popular lessons. Anyone interested in this topic might consider a free subscription to “Genome,” a new magazine that highlights advances related to personalized medicine, and is an accessible and informative read.
“What is precision medicine?” from the Genetic Literacy Project.
“Obama singled out precision medicine as the future. But what exactly is that?” from Vox.
“Impact of Cancer Genomics on Precision Medicine from the Treatment of Cancer” from the National Cancer Institute (includes video and podcast).