Keeping Up with Technology and Innovation

Charles Darwin once stated: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” The field of cardiology is continuously changing, and exciting advancements made over the past few decades have led to the discovery of life-saving treatments and therapies. A recently published article in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology by Robert Roberts, MD, MACC, and colleagues discusses one such advancement: genomics in cardiovascular disease. The authors explain the history of the development, but note the conundrum, “a major challenge to health care policy makers, physicians, care givers and end users are being created by the convergence of two major technologies: cost effective DNA sequencing of the whole genome and digitalization of patient data. The progress of DNA sequencing is said to have improved 10,000 fold in the past 8 years, while our ability to store, retrieve and analyze data has only improved 16 fold.” They continue that “some claim that the convergence of these two technologies is the tipping point for personalized medicine. It could be costly not to realize we are at the cusp of the new era of personalized medicine.” They envision an “era of population medicine where ‘one drug fits all’ will be replaced by medicine based on one’s genetic composition, molecular makeup and how it affects the particula...
Source: ACC in Touch Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Professionalism Source Type: blogs