Seventy percent of the decisions made by physicians today are influenced by results of diagnostic tests, according to N. Leigh Anderson, founder of the Plasma Proteome Institute and CEO of SISCAPA Assay Technologies. Imagine the changes that will come about when future diagnostics tests are more accurate, more useful, more economical, and more accessible to healthcare practitioners. For Dr. Anderson, that’s the promise of proteomics, the study of the structure and function of proteins, the principal constituents of the protoplasm of all cells.
In explaining why proteomics is likely to have such a major impact, Dr. Anderson starts with a major difference between the genetic testing common today, and the proteomic testing that is fast coming on the scene. “Most genetic tests are aimed at measuring something that’s constant in a person over his or her entire lifetime. These tests provide information on the probability of something happening, and they can help us understand the basis of various diseases and their potential risks. What’s missing is, a genetic test is not going to tell you what’s happening to you right now.”
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