Reply to post: Re: Most treatments have no need for either genomic or proteomic diagnostics

Beyond the genome: YOU'VE BEEN DECODED, again

Bilious

Re: Most treatments have no need for either genomic or proteomic diagnostics

A large chunk of medical diagnostics are based on basic knowledge and simple clinical observations. A cancer needs to be surgically removed. A bacterial infection of lungs or kidneys or wounds or brain almost certainly will be best treated with one or more antibiotics. Survival may depend on startup of antibiotic treatment long before the detailed biochemical characterisation of the offending bacteria has been finished. A broken bone requires surgery or repositioning and a cast - osteoporosis may be a severe problem during surgery, but some sort of treatment is mandatory. Dementia means that the patient needs special care. Drug or alcohol abuse require detoxification and social rehabilitation.

Proteomics and genomics are mainly irrelevant to these conditions, except as research tools.

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