engleski

Impact of molecular medicine on pathophysiology, medical practice and medical education

The scope of the article is to give an overview the field mostly on the basis of reviews published in readily accessible Current Contents indexed journals. The basic disorder causing a disease may be that of DNA structure, disorder of gene expression, or that of protein structure and function. Vertical integration of disorders of macromolecular structure and function with consequences on subcellular, cellular and organismic levels is essential for understanding the mechanisms of disease in terms of molecular medicine. Various aspects of the growing impact of molecular medicine on clinical practice are discussed: diagnostic and predictive testing, gene and targeted therapy, and pharmacogenomic. Insufficient data from appropriate clinical studies and evidence-based medicine presently impose limitation to the application of molecular medicine to clinical practice. Incorporation of conceptual and clinical aspects of molecular medicine in undergraduate and postgraduate curricula and a continuous education of medical professionals is an urgent imperative in order to fulfill the demands of medical care quality in near future. The emphasis should be on bedside orientated molecular medicine. The prerequisite is translational research aimed to translate basic information into the improvement of healthcare of individual patients and the population.

education; medical; genetic screening; molecular biology; pharmacogenomics

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