Scientific Breakthrough of the Human Genome
Genome Sequencing may have only been around for ten years, but it has proven to have increased the new amount of technologies affecting human health and disease by giving us better medicine, possible new treatments, and could result in potential cures in the future.
Gene sequencing has created numerous new industries and advancements in categories such as medicine. Pharmacogenomics is the study of medicine (pharmacology) and gene sequencing (genomics) (USDE, 2011). Today, pharmacogenomics is a limited industry, but its future potential may change the world. By its definition, pharmacogenomics can produce drugs based on a person’s specific genes. Currently, drugs are being made for the masses (generic medicine), so drugs are bought over-the-counter or prescribed. But once the process of making drugs through pharmacogenomics is standardized, the medical industry will be specified to each person’s DNA rather than making medicine that works for everyone. Using this feature will also reduce the trial and error of current day drugs such as antibiotics. Antibiotics need to be constantly updated over time because bacteria gain antibiotic resistance; therefore, pharmacists need to find a new antibiotics for people who have grown immune to the bacteria they have (FDA, 2013). Specialized medicines are benefit masses of people because of the accuracy and the precision the drug will have targeting the source of the disease/sickness. The drug Vemurafenib is a prime example; the drug targets and kills genes affected by melanoma (NIH, 2012). This specialization improves accuracy and will not damage the health cells close to the damage cells (USDE, 2011). All of these improvements result in lower cost for health care.
Gene sequencing has also given birth to a new treatment known as gene therapy. Gene disorders are caused by alteration in genes, and they do not code for proteins. As a result, the proteins cannot carry out their...