The George M. Kober lecture: a genetical view of modern medicine.

A genetic approach to medicine provides a powerful concept for understanding of the etiology of many diseases. Significant investigative and therapeutic advances have already been made in the chromosomal and Mendelian diseases using genetic concepts which initially were discovered completely unrelated to medicine. The combination of unfettered basic biomedical research together with family and population studies is likely to bring new insights to understanding, prevention and treatment of the yet poorly understood multifactorial diseases which represent the greatest public health problems in the Western world. Identification of specific genes involved in susceptibility and resistance to these diseases and their interaction with various environmental factors will allow a more rational preventive medicine in the future.