The Top 10 Medical Advances of the Decade

ABC News Medical Unit in Collaboration with MedPage Today Dec. 17, 2009 The first decade of the 21st century brought a number of discoveries, mistakes and medical advances that influenced medicine from the patient's bedside to the medicine cabinet. In some cases, these advances changed deeply rooted beliefs in medicine. In others, they opened up possibilities beyond what doctors thought was possible years ago. ABC News, in collaboration with MedPage Today, reached out to more than 800 specialists for their suggestions. More than 125 experts in various fields and specialties responded. Their suggestions were then sent to the American Association for the History of Medicine, which narrowed the pool down to an authoritative list of 10 medical advances this decade that have had the most impact. 1. Human Genome Discoveries Reach the Bedside In 2000, scientists with the International Human Genome Project released a rough draft of the human genome to the public on the Internet. For the first time, the world could download and read the complete set of human genetic information and begin to discover what our roughly 20,000 genes do. Mapping the human genome was a race involving time and money in the 1990s, with two competitors at the lead. Starting first in 1990 was the government-funded Human Genome Project, which released data to the public daily as it built technologies and mapped animal genomes. The group completed a draft of the human genome in about 10 years using about $2.5 billion in taxpayer money for all activities and $300 million for the human genome. At the end of the decade the human Genome Project had a competitor -- a private company, Celera Genomics, which used a different "shot gun" sequencing technique and spent $100 million on mapping the human genome, according to Dr. Craig Venter, the chief scientist behind Celera Genomics. Both groups announced drafts of the human genome at a June 26, 2000 press conference with President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. "It's one of the major landmarks that rank up there with going to the moon. Obviously people think I could be a little biased, but I think historians will agree with me," said Dr. Francis Collins, who was the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute when the genome was mapped. "I think when people look back in 100 years, and look at what was the most significant advance in medicine and all of scientific research in this decade it will be the human genome," said Collins said, who is now the director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health. In 2003, a "final" draft was released by researchers, and in 2007 more updates to the genome were published. "It's the precursor for lots of medical advances," said Venter, now chairman and president of the non-profit J. Craig Venter Institute. "That was absolutely the hope for it, that it will begin to change things," said Venter, who was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Obama last month for his work on the human genome. Collins said he expects the knowledge of the human genome to slowly influence medical achievements considering the time it takes to test medical theories and how much scientists have left to learn about the genome. But some advances are already underway. "Certainly in the area of cancer, it is in fact routine for people to find out their own genetic risk and to modify their surveillance," said Collins. The fields of breast and colon cancer have seen significant gains in this sort of genetically-personalized medicine. on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook More from ABC News The Top Medical Advances of the Decade Will Gene-Screening Improve Your Health? Your Health Care Reform FAQ Answered Electronic Health Records: Patient, Heal Thyself? From Around the Web How a Depression Diagnosis Is Made (EverydayHealth.com) What You Need to Know About Multivitamins (Real Simple) 10 Things NOT to Say to a Person with Migraines (HealthCentral.com) 7 Sneaky Heartburn Triggers (Health.com) The Best and Worst Products at Trader Joe's (The Daily Meal) [What's This?] Email Print Share Comment & Contribute Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News. View All Comments (17) MD_Mickey 8:30 AM EDT May 30, 2011 A lot of these improvements are simply minor advances of major breakthroughs over the past generation: I had minimal invasive surgery in 1989. New cancer treatments that don't cure but slow down the disease have been around for longer than that. The slight improvements in those fields affect relatively few people and pale in comparison with things like Medicare Prescriptions or universal health care and ANYTHING that reduces the severe drain on our economy caused by healthcare costs, which provide an avg. $54.28 in gross profits for every $100 in charges. We're spending an extra $6 per every $100 earned on healthcare compared to when Clinton was President ($18.33 vs $12.50). Think about how our economy would be thriving if all that money went into consumer spending! findlayjeanne 8:31 AM EST Jan 01, 2010 sapulley: you are right, they missed including the reduction in prices of medications as a HUGE health story! Consumers shouldn't have to decide between groceries and medications!However, can physicians PLEASE get beyond their "me" focused thinking when it comes to health care delivery?!? It's refreshing to hear verbage about 'patient involvement' [gee, what a concept....we've been here all along], but what about inclusive and team-focused language when it comes to the TEAM of folks who make safe and effective healthcare happen?!? C'mon, let's be honest, physicians: you've been so non-inclusive and insular for so long that patients have had to drag you to the interactive healthcare table. So let's think 'village' or 'team' concept, and include therapists [occupational, physical, mental health], counselors, pharmacists, and nurses with the patients and physicians who need to be equal partners in the process. bngpatsy 6:29 AM EST Dec 30, 2009 Dear Writer,I have read of this article on medical advances to man kind and really fine.Yes.Many science in formulation ,adoption of their new findings and experiments with us are amazing.Congratulations to them.I am suggesting to medical professionals,research scholars to find out,why mental retardation,autism and violence in our minds ,reasons and solutions for permanent eradication of the above diseases.I am pained to see,watch of mental retarded persons day today life.For this subject,we will have wisdom in near future.A Very Happy New Year,2010 to you, editors,staff,members and users of this world famous news channels., View All Comments (17) Watch Mornings on ABC VIDEO: Kim Jong Il Dead at 69 Watch the Full Episode GMA 12/19: Kim Jong Il Dead at 69 Robin Roberts Recommends robin Decorations Both Chic and Cheap WATCH: Emeril Lagasse Cooks up Christmas Breakfast Year in Review: A Look Back at News, Trends and More Most Viewed → 1 2 3 4 5 PreviousNext VIDEO: Video of baby Benson and his Yorkie has gone viral with more than 350,000 views. 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