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SPECIAL REPORT By Judith Duffy

It was once seen as being in the realms of science fiction, but nearly a decade after researchers successfully decoded the human genome, the idea of prescribing treatment based on an individual's genes is becoming a reality in Scotland.

Advances in technology have meant the cost of carrying out genetic profiling has been slashed from tens of thousands of pounds to just hundreds of pounds.

Health Science Scotland, a body set up by NHS health boards and universities to promote research north of the Border, is now working with major pharmaceutical companies to set up a centre focusing on the field of personalised medicine, the Sunday Herald can reveal.

And the NHS is already making use of "patient-specific" treatments including a team of medics in Glasgow leading the way globally in the diagnosis of epilepsy through genetic testing.

Graeme Boyle, senior programme manager at Health Science Scotland, said the country was "ideally placed" to be at the forefront of personalised medicine globally.

Researchers would be able to take advantage of factors such as the availability of a wealth of health data and a relatively stable population in Scotland, he said.

Boyle said the research could help to overcome the issue of drugs which costs millions of pounds to develop being taken off the market because they cause harmful reactions in some patients.

"These drugs maybe work for tens, hundreds, maybe millions of people, but there has been adverse events in a small number of people and so it gets withdrawn," he said.

Read more:
Scotland: global genetic testing centre

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