In his letter, Dr. Zimmern suggests that, “history aside”, these starting points are only a matter of a slight difference in emphasis. In my view, however, the difference between these starting points Vistusertib reflects an important tension. This tension is marked, on the one hand, by an individual rights perspective rooted in a tradition of reproductive decision-making and on the other hand, by an endeavour to improve population health rooted in public health values. This tension indeed also characterizes our modern health care landscape, but it involves a specific challenge, as I have argued in my commentary, 7-Cl-O-Nec1 supplier for both community genetics and public health genomics.
I see this challenge as highly important for the future development of both fields. That is why
we should not, I think, try to dispel the notion of difference between community genetics and public health genomics, Depsipeptide cost but seek to understand the different starting points from which both fields are facing this challenge, thus inviting further reflection and debate. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. References Knoppers BM, Brand A (2009) From community genetics to public health genomics – what’s in a name? Pub Health Genom 12:1–3 ten Kate LP (2008) Community genetics in the era of public health genomics. Community Genet 11:1″
“In recent years, public health genomics has been introduced in the scientific literature as a new endeavour, aiming at the translation of genome-based knowledge
and technologies into health interventions and public policies for the benefit of public health (Brand and Brand 2006; Zimmern and Stewart 2006; Gwinn and Khoury 2006). In 2009, Public Health Genomics started to appear as an international journal and a new signpost of the Quinapyramine emerging field; however, as the editors pointed out, the new journal builds on an earlier version which was already founded in 1998, published as Community Genetics (Knoppers and Brand 2009). Thus, as a new and emerging field, public health genomics does not only embody promises and expectations for the future. It is also rooted in a history of past attempts and achievements, constituting “community genetics” as a bridge between genetics and public health (ten Kate 2005). In this context the relationship between public health genomics and community genetics has become a matter of debate. As becomes clear from the establishment of the new Journal of Community Genetics, there is a continuing interest in community genetics, defined by aims independent from public health genomics.