Doctor’s Notes: Spring 2019 – Genomics, A Primer
“ Your genome sequence can become a vital part of your medical record, thereby providing critical information about how to optimize your health”
– Leroy Hood MD, PhD
We have all heard talk of our genome. What is that? It is defined by the National Library of Medicine as
“…our complete set of DNA and all of its genes. Each genome contains all the information to build and maintain our organism. The human genome contains more than 3 billion DNA base pairs, contained in our chromosomes” …23 pairs of chromosomes, of which we get one pair from Mom and one pair from Dad, for a total of 46 chromosomes. These are found in every cell in our body that has a nucleus.
The study of these genes is called Genomics and was made possible by the discovery of the DNA structure by James D Watson and Francis H C Crick on February 28, 1953 at Cambridge University and by the Human Genome Project which in 2003 was successful in mapping the entire genome of the human species. Genomic Medicine is an emerging medical study devoted to using this information for better diagnosis of conditions and diseases to be able to better personalize therapy.
How is this practical for us? There are various areas of development of this study that are maturing as this note is written.
The most common to the lay public is in the form of testing that is available direct to consumer, the most prevalent one being 23andMe which includes both ancestry and health information. The pertinent aspects are […]