"King’s proposal is more than just a new approach to cancer screening. This is a watershed moment for all genetic testing, which is currently used in a highly targeted manner—usually for people at clear risk of a disease, or to confirm a diagnosis based on existing symptoms. For years, scientists have imagined a world in which genetic testing is done for everybody, possibly even at birth, so that diseases can be avoided rather than managed. But imagination and obvious clinical utility are very different things. King’s proposal is the first to focus on dramatically expanding the use of an existing and proven genetic test, making her plea far more likely to resonate with medical professionals and the patients they serve. (Whether the insurance companies who pay them will heed the call is another story entirely.)"
"Health-care is about more than simply applying science and technology to diseases. Questions about how they will be applied in practice need to be addressed. For example, what does “patient benefit” mean to healthcare professionals and to patients? How are test results communicated and stored across medical specialities, and which tests require special handling? (For example, information provided by tests that concern an individual or family member’s future health or disease.)
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