Knowing the Human genome better has allowed major advancements in Personalised Medicine. Nowadays, we can know (if we want) the likelihood to develop a given disease and/or how we will react to different pharmacological treatments. Examples of this include diseases like breast cancer (for diagnosis or estimation of likelihood) and lung cancer (for response to treatment), to name just a few.
That said, our genotype does not have the last word. Research in the last couple of decades has shown the power of other regulatory mechanisms, that may enhance or diminish the effect that our genotype will have on our health. Starting from basic healthy life styles, to other more subtle mechanisms, our genotype defines us, but not completely. Above genetics, we have epigenetics… and everything at the protein level. This post will focus on Post-Translational Modifications (PTM), because, after all, it’s the proteins that are the final effectors of a given response to a treatment or to an environmental stimulus.
