Assessing the social meaning, value and implications of research in genomics

Abstract

Many health professionals and citizens believe that science is on the cusp of generating a major revolution in medicine as a result of advances in genomics, proteomics and other “-omics” disciplines. However, it has long been clear that other approaches, such as those typical of epidemiology, are essential to fulfil the promise of genomics for clinical and public health practice,¹ and should be part of the research agenda. The main objective is the translation of genomic discoveries to clinical and public health practice. However, moving too rapidly to the clinics with immature technologies could jeopardise the promising future of this research, as Ioannidis remarks in the Research Agenda section in this issue.²