Facing Facts in Regulating Genetic Tests

January 4, 2011

In his recent book, NIH Director Francis Collins refers to DNA and the new science of genomics as “the language of life.” Thanks to the mapping of the human genome, says Collins, virtually all biomedical researchers agree “that their approach to understanding how life works has been profoundly and irreversibly affected….” This profound new knowledge, of course, is transforming health care delivery. In the genetic tests and technologies that have arisen from it, medical providers now routinely apply tools in front-line medical delivery that help detect, diagnose, and manage disease at the level of an individual’s own DNA, providing care that is “personalized” to the exact molecular needs of the patient. (Health Affairs Blog)