Genomic medicine in Russia: future perspectives

Abstract

Modern genome technologies and a widespread use of omics data have revolutionized healthcare and brought unprecedented opportunities to apply genetics to medicine to maximize patient benefit. Genomic medicine provides innovative approaches to rapid and reliable early disease diagnostics, patients stratification to assess and monitor the effectiveness of therapy and, finally, population-scale screening for predisposition to certain diseases. In view of this, many countries took steps to adopt of genomics in clinical practice, thus transforming national healthcare systems. Here we discuss main applications of genomic data in clinical practice, its contribution to personalised medicine and associated emerging challenges, as well as key considerations for the successful integration of genomic technologies into healthcare systems. Besides that, we showcase several national genomic medicine programmes, particularly the UK one, providing a detailed review of approaches to transformation of the national healthcare system as implemented by Genomics England initiative. Finally, we discuss possible avenues for the development of genomic medicine system in Russia.