Montreal Gazette - Genetic profiling: Waiting for the future of medicine

It has been nearly a decade since the Human Genome Project deciphered the code that defines us, promising cures for present and future ailments. There was a general idea that once the genome was cracked, the mystery of life would be solved – that with access to our own genetic code, science would be able to provide us with medical repairs and point us to lifestyle choices to overcome “bad genes.” With a conference on human genetics coming to Montreal’s Palais des congrès this week, and as global investments in research reach $3 billion a year, fuelling inflated expectations, some are wondering: What has happened to the promise of genomics?

Genomic researchers may have oversold what they can deliver, driven in part by government needs to justify funding, said lawyer Yann Joly, a lecturer at McGill University’s faculty of medicine, department of human genetics and a researcher at Université de Montréal.

The 12th International Congress of Human Genetics / 61st annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics will be held at the Palais des congrès from Monday, Oct. 10 to Saturday, Oct. 15th