Personalized medicine: ‘Tyranny of the gene’

Abstract

Personalized medicine: ‘Tyranny of the gene’ Dr Priya Hays, Ph.D., CEO/Science Writer at Hays Documentation Specialists, LLC, responds to “Tyranny of the Gene.” Is personalized medicine a threat to public health? Not really, but yes, it’s an argument for price controls and perhaps more regulations; we hear. Tyranny of the Gene: Personalized Medicine’s Threat to Public Health, written by James Tabery and published by Alfred Knopf Publishers, was released in August 2023 and was featured in a New York Times Op-Ed. Tyranny of the Gene is a historical account of the origins and development of genomic and personalized medicine, shedding light on examples of unsavory scientific and medical experimentation during its early period intersecting with the eugenics movement and research behind the birth of pharmacogenomics. Tabery delves into its growth as a result of capitalist incentives for pursuing profits in industry rather than the goal of achieving effective patient care, which is the most often cited reason for seeking its implementation among its supporters. The nature-nurture debate takes a central stage in this book, creating a dichotomy that public health is environment-based (or nurture) and personalized medicine is the gene (or based on genetic predisposition or nature), with genetic reductionism playing a pivotal role in its rise, according to Tabery.