Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Mayo Clinic are looking at Mayo biobank members to examine genomic markers to help flag possible drug reactions.
Baylor‘s Human Genome Sequencing Center will help Mayo Clinic sequence the DNA of Mayo biobank members for 69 different genes that can influence how patients’ metabolize or react to different drugs. The goal is to determine which “pharmacogenomic” findings are relevant to the individual patient and to insert that information into their medical records—providing an “early warning system” to prevent adverse drug reactions or ineffective treatments.
“This collaboration is a wonderful example of how a partnership between a Genome Center and a premier clinical group can speed the translation of valuable genomic tests into useful advances in patient care,” said Richard Gibbs, M.D., director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor.
Individualized and precision medicine received renewed attention after January’s State of the Union Address when President Barack Obama announced an initiative to accelerate progress in precision medicine. He called for a more individualized and molecular approach to studying medicine and finding cures for diseases like cance
