How does the chapter suggest that genomics will change clinical care?

The chapter predicts that clinical care will shift from a trial-and-error approach to genomics-based care. Clinicians will use each patient's genetic test results to select medications that work for that individual and avoid harmful side effects. Understanding molecular mechanisms will also improve disease classification, prevention, and treatment, making care based on the patient's genome.

The chapter envisions a typical clinical scenario in which an advanced practice nurse reviews a patient's genetic test results before prescribing, knowing this information is needed to choose a drug that treats the illness successfully without causing adverse reactions. The patient then receives only the medication needed, one designed to interfere with or enhance the specific molecular processes underlying that patient's health challenge. The text references a hypertensive patient example: a drop of blood analyzed by cDNA microarray can reveal SNPs related to hypertension and also predispositions to diabetes or myocardial infarction, allowing the clinician to determine which drugs are beneficial and which are harmful, in contrast to current trial-and-error matching. Bioinformatics and biomedical informatics thus provide knowledge about DNA differences among individuals, help prevent disease, and will revolutionize how conditions are diagnosed and care is provided. By better understanding biological processes and genetic coding, clinicians can better prevent or treat conditions, so clinical care as known will change and become genomics based.