In Search of Disease: Opportunities and Risks
Setup
Remarkable screening and diagnostic tools are being developed so that disease can be identified in its earliest stages, when it is most treatable, and disease subtypes can be isolated to accommodate more precise treatment. New technology for testing blood can find cancer long before symptoms appear, a spinal fluid protein appears to be a biomarker for Parkinson’s disease, nanotechnology may be able to detect bacterial and viral infections swiftly, and genetic tests can pinpoint elevated risks for numerous dangerous health conditions. But ethical, regulatory, and practice guidelines are lagging new knowledge, raising questions about test quality, patient privacy, and the possibility that misleading results will prompt an inappropriate clinical response.
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