Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Precision Medicine
"A medical approach that tailors treatment to individual patients based on their genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors"
Precision medicine (also called personalised medicine) is a healthcare approach that uses information about a person's genes, proteins, environment, and lifestyle to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease. Unlike the traditional one-size-fits-all model where treatments are designed for the average patient, precision medicine enables clinicians to predict more accurately which treatment strategies will work for specific groups of patients or individuals, particularly in oncology, rare diseases, and pharmacogenomics.
India launched the Genome India Project (2020) to sequence 10,000 Indian genomes, providing the genomic baseline for precision medicine in the Indian population. AI-driven diagnostics and precision medicine are increasingly featured in UPSC GS3 (Science and Technology) and are relevant to health policy questions in GS2. The convergence of AI, genomics, and healthcare is a key emerging topic for Mains essays.
- 1 The Human Genome Project (1990-2003, cost $2.7 billion) laid the foundation by mapping all human genes; today whole-genome sequencing costs under $200
- 2 Genome India Project aims to create a reference genome database for India's diverse population — led by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore
- 3 Pharmacogenomics studies how genes affect drug response — enabling doctors to choose the right drug and dosage for each patient
- 4 AI and machine learning accelerate precision medicine by analysing vast genomic datasets, medical imaging, and electronic health records
- 5 ICMR's National Cancer Registry Programme uses genomic data for targeted cancer therapies
- 6 Ethical concerns include genetic data privacy, risk of genetic discrimination in insurance and employment, and equitable access
- 7 India's National Health Policy 2017 promotes digital health and personalised healthcare as future priorities
In oncology, precision medicine uses tumour genomic profiling to identify specific mutations (e.g., BRCA1/BRCA2 in breast cancer) and prescribe targeted therapies like PARP inhibitors — instead of conventional chemotherapy that affects all rapidly dividing cells indiscriminately.