Some Practical Applications

It was recommended that this session might include one rather bread-and-butter paper, namely, a brief review of some of the contributions that genetics can make to the practice of medicine and surgery here and now, or at least in the reasonably foreseeable future. The first contribution I should like to mention is the help a knowledge of genetics can give in facilitating early diagnosis when this is important if effective treatment is to be instituted. Early diagnosis is important in a number of genetically determined conditions. A well-known example is multiple polyposis of the colon and rectum, a condition determined by a dominant gene.4 This is a pre-cancerous condition and early operation has saved many lives. Dr Dukes and his colleagues at St Mark’s Hospital have kept in touch with very many family groups, and as individuals of the younger generations grow up they are examined and, if polyposis is found, are operated on.