Leroy Hood has been at the center of a number of paradigm shifts in
biology. He helped to invent the first automated DNA sequencing machine
in the 1980s, along with several other technologies that have changed
the face of molecular biology. And in 2000, he founded the Institute for Systems Biology, a multidisciplinary
institute in Seattle dedicated to examining the interactions between
biological information at many different levels, and to moving forward a
new perspective for studying biology. The next revolution he plans to
help shape is in medicine, using new technologies and new knowledge in
biology and informatics to make its practice more predictive,
preventative and personal.
Hood says that with each of the major transitions he's been a part of, he has faced skepticism. The human genome project, for example, had many naysayers. But he says the best way to overcome doubts is with results. To that end, Hood has founded a startup called Integrated Diagnostics, which is developing cheap diagnostics that could be used to detect diseases at earlier, more treatable stages. He has also developed a partnership between the Institute for Systems Biology and Ohio State Medical School, where he hopes to show how combining existing medical and genomics technologies can affect the practice of health care today.
Hood contends that digitizing medical records--the health-care industry's major push at the moment--is just one small part of the informatics overhaul the field needs to undergo. And pharmacogenomics--the practice of using an individual's genetic makeup to choose drugs --provides only a limited example of the potential power of personalized medicine.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Technology Review: A Vision for Personalized Medicine
Author: Emily
Singer
