then a focus on racial differences at the level of the genome constitutes a step off the path with many ramifications |
If personalized medicine is to bear out its name and become truly “personalized,” then a focus on racial differences at the level of the genome constitutes a step off the path with many ramifications, including the possibility of racial and ethnic stereotyping and discrimination during routine medical care that could lead to misdiagnoses and ineffective treatment regimens. Efforts to achieve personalized medicine in clinical settings would do better to focus on patterns in genomes and how such patterns may be associated with disease, rather than trying to find genetic correlates for existing racial and ethnic categories.
Ramya Rajagopalan, Ph.D. and Joan H. Fujimura, Ph.D., “Will Personalized Medicine Challenge or Reify Categories of Race and Ethnicity?,” Virtual Mentor: American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, Volume 14, Number 8 (August 2012): 661.