Past Issues

Precision medicine is the next wave of big biomedical science in the United
States of America, which will continue to lead the global biomedical research after
the completion of the Human Genome Project. The arrival of precision medicine
is first exemplified by the development of target therapy in cancer research. The
knowledge and experiences gained from cancer research will be extended to another discipline of medicine according to the statement of the Precision Medicine
Initiative. Psychiatry is a discipline of medicine; the big biomedical science will
certainly have an influential impact on this field. The increasing knowledge of the
medical conditions causing psychiatric symptoms and the availability of the whole
genome information of the patients will transform the way that psychiatrists make
a diagnosis and treat the patients. In the coming era of precision psychiatry, psychiatrists will have to order more laboratory tests including genetic tests to identify
the etiology of psychiatric patients, and to tailor the treatment for each patient
based on his or her genetic information. But the realization of the precision psychiatric practice needs support and change of the ecosystem or infrastructure of the
clinical settings. This overview elaborates some examples of those progress in
psychiatry that may transform the way we practice psychiatry to some extent
shortly.