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Advances in large-scale genome sequencing, data storage, and analysis, combined with extensive scientific research, are accelerating the development of personalised medicine and disease prevention. These advancements are already helping to improve outcomes for patients with chronic diseases such as coronary artery disease and breast cancer. But one of the most prevalent conditions is depression, a debilitating mental illness ranked by the World Health Organization as the leading cause of worldwide disability which impacts approximately one in six people during their lifetime. In this blog, we explore the latest research in genetic causes of depression, and whether precision medicine in this area is on the horizon.
With the exponential growth of genomic data and analysis techniques we are seeing huge breakthroughs in use of polygenic risk scores to predict genetic risk of many common diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. The study of genetic risk for common diseases is complex, as many genetic and environmental variants affect the disease risk. But following the success of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in identifying the causal variants associated with the disease, polygenic risk scores (PRS) provide a way of aggregating all the variants carried by an individual into a single risk score.
There is huge potential for genomics to improve effectiveness and lower costs in healthcare. The reduction in sequencing costs and the availability of tools to securely store, process, and analyse large-scale data is accelerating research in genomics, and fueling progress. One area within this field with the fastest growth and greatest potential is the incorporation of genetic testing into clinical trials.