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"Gnome medicine did you say?" With more than a hint of incredulity, this was the response from my (SF) mum when I talked to her about my work. We then went on to laugh about the misunderstanding. I use this example, not to humiliate my mum (she has given permission for me to use her response) but to highlight the divide between clinicians, scientists and the everyday person.1'2 My mum is not alone in her response. In the UK there is an engagement project "Socialising the Genome" funded by Genomics England, the Wellcome Trust and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, which aims to "explore what people already understand about DNA and genomics-even if they think they know nothing-and how they are currently talking about it."
In their letter, Parry and Middleton discussed how some genomics professionals "argue fiercely that the public should be educated to use and understand technically precise genomics terminology."1 However, Parry and Middleton went on to say that they felt that insisting on such an approach would present "a marked barrier to communication and also creates an unhelpful power differential of expert versus other."
Genomic medicine, sometimes also known as personalised medicine, is a way to customise medical care to your body's unique genetic makeup-where treatment plans can be tailored to the individual.3 Rather than looking at one gene, genomic medicine looks at all of the genes, using techniques such as next-generation sequencing. It takes into account family health history...