A quote commonly heard these days is that in the history of medicine, the greatest advancements in the treatment of patients have occurred within the past 50 years. But what if a doctor could prevent a disease from occurring, treating the cause rather than the symptoms? We all agree this would be wonderful, but how could a doctor predict a patient's medical future? This dream is now within the realm of possibility. In fact, the greatest change in the history of medicine since the discovery of antibiotics is anticipated to occur over the next several generations. It is the movement of medicine from a discipline that reacts to and treats a disease to one that is focused on preventing disease from occurring.

This feat will be accomplished using genetic and genomic information gained from the Human Genome Project to tailor treatments and medicine to each individual patient...