Primer on Medical Genomics The End of the Beginning

Individual reprints of this article are not available. The entire Primer on Medical Genomics will be available for purchase from the Pro-ceedings Editorial Office at a later date. The near-complete DNA sequencing of the human ge-nome, first published in February 2001,1,2 swiftly grabbed the attention of the scientific community and served as a catalyst to awaken a general interest in molecu-lar medicine among primary care physicians. If the patient is to be the ultimate beneficiary of such scientific advances, the information needs to be accompanied by physician education and clarification of its relevance to clinical prac-tice. This particular need, as it applies to the recent progress in medical genomics, was recognized early by the Mayo Clinic Proceedings editorial board and resulted in the launching of a Primer on Medical Genomics educational series in August 2002.3-5 Between then and now, variou