28 August 2018 - In an effort to improve the risk-benefit profile of therapies in clinical care, precision medicine seeks to identify and make use of factors, often genetic variants or biomarkers, that influence or predict the response to treatment. 

The Precision Medicine Initiative defines precision medicine as “an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person.” 

Across the United States, departments, institutes, and centers have created new groups focused on this approach. Precision medicine has acquired strong vested interests, including industry and academic medical centers with committed researchers, spin-off companies, and occasionally, some enthusiastic clinicians. A favoured theory can be a powerful force.

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