What’s New: A Link between Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup and Ischemia

Genomic medicine or gene-based medicine, terms coined to describe a paradigm shift in human health, as a consequence of the Human Genome Project, is under retrospection to assess the true impact of this genome revolution. The tangible gains of genomic medicine have resulted in a better understanding of the molecular pathways leading to disease manifestations and the importance of genes and specific mutations therein in terms of drug response and disease progression and in assessing the risk of contracting disease. Individual genetic ancestry has been found to improve predictions of pulmonary function in self-identified African Americans pointing to the significance of ‘race correction’ in pulmonary function testing. These genetic markers are the prime gain of the genomic revolution, even though questions of accuracy of such predictions remain. While single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the nuclear genome continue to be the focus of disease association, enough reports highlight the importance of nonnuclear SNPs, the epigenetic phenomenon and the environment as risk factors.