Abstract
Of the many profound statements that Mr Einstein gave the world, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” is an evergreen quotation that will always hold true in science. Despite witnessing great leaps in recent years in how we can measure and quantify biological systems with great accuracy and precision - we're only at the beginning stages of interrogating the vast complexity of the genome and cascading proteome, transcriptome, metabolome and as we cover later in this issue - the ‘connectome'. Not knowing enough, is, I would argue, a position of strength not weakness, propelling us to discover the ‘unknown unknowns', pushing us to find solutions to intractable problems.
The focus of this issue is centred on the rapidly evolving area of minimal residual disease but as was pointed out in one of our interviews, when you're looking at numbers close to a million or so cancer cells it's hard to argue there is anything minimal about that analysis at all. We should, however, be optimistic as MRD is having a significant impact on how we run clinical trials and how we are now able to stratify patients, not least, how we create a more comprehensive picture of predisposition and evolution of cancer, creating an end-to-end solution for predicting, monitoring, and treating this disease.
I am delighted to announce that IPM has partnered with the National Society of Genetic Counsellors, an outstanding organization whose strategic mission is to promote the growth and sustainability of the genetic counselling profession which we support wholeheartedly. Genetic counsellors are an indispensable cog in the precision medicine wheel and and we're proud to play our part in helping illuminate the foundational work they do to support and educate patients at a time of great uncertainty. Our new column ‘Relatively Speaking' will feature the perspectives of a guest counsellor every issue, delivering valuable insights into the vast, multifaceted, genetic disease landscape.
Finally, we have introduced two more columns, the first called ‘Vested Interest' which will focus on strategies and forecasting in the investment of precision diagnostics, therapeutics, and enabling technologies. The second is called ‘Human Lens' which will offer acute perspectives on the many applications of AI spanning drug discovery through to the clinic. We shall continue to build new columns and offer our readers a rich and diverse smorgasbord of opinion within the precision medicine community. I'm all ears for any ideas you may have for contributions, so please always feel free to email me at ddoherty@insideprecisionmedicine.com and we can help add oxygen to your compelling stories.
Damian Doherty
Editor in Chief
