Waiting for medicine’s black swans - CMAJ

Waiting for medicine’s black swans

"Over a decade has passed since the medical world quivered with anticipation at the completion of the Human Genome Project. For the most part, though, those heady days have been replaced by the sobering realization that the path from knowledge to product is riddled with potholes.

Time, tight budgets and delivery complications have emerged as major ruts in the drive toward the pot of therapeutic gold that was promised for the end of road....."

"....One possible solution was presented by Dr. Anil K. Sood, professor of gynecologic oncology in the Division of Surgery at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Sood’s research with mouse models of ovarian and colorectal cancer indicated that high-density lipoprotein nanoparticles (so-called “good” cholesterol) could be used to deliver small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) to specific gene targets.....