Genome Medicine the future of medicine.docVIP

Editorial Genome Medicine: the future of medicine Melissa L Norton, Editor, Genome Medicine Email: editorial@ Published: 20 January 2009 Genome Medicine 2009, 1:1 (doi:10.1186/gm1) The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at /content/1/1/1 ? 2009 BioMed Central Ltd In the past decade, scientific discovery in medicine has pro- gressed at an increasingly rapid rate, and genomic, post- genomic and bioinformatic approaches have played key roles in this progression. Our growing understanding of the human genome and proteome promises to revolutionize the practice of medicine in the 21st century. The last year has seen the publication of an acute myeloid leukemia genome [1], the initiation of the 1000 Genomes Project [2] and the International Human Microbiome Consortium, and the progression of a number of other important collaborations, such as the Copy Number Variation Project [3] and the Cancer Genome Atlas [4]. Furthermore, a plethora of genome-wide association studies have been undertaken, associating specific loci to a variety of diseases. These discoveries, as well as continuing advances in genome sequencing technologies, bring us several steps closer to individualized medicine, a concept that has captured the imaginations of practitioners of medicine, politicians, and the public alike. fundamental to the progress of scientific discovery as well as clinical practice. The scope of the journal is broad and includes articles aimed at understanding the genetics, genomics and epigenetics of disease, genomic epidemiology, and public health genomics, as well as articles that utilize computational and systems approaches to advance our understanding of the patho- genesis, diagnosis and management of disease. The journal has a particular emphasis on the application of ge