Medical genetics:present and future

Abstract Medical genetics is an exponentially progressing field. In less than a decade, the increase in our understanding of genetics, particularly Molecular genetics has exceeded that achieved over the previous 4 decades marked by Watson and Crick's specification of the double helix structure of DNA in 1953. Since then the genetic code has been deciphered, the nature of the gene was clarified and many of the intricacies of its function became overt. Genetics has a long tradition of merging clinical observation with basic laboratory investigation. This has culminated in the emergence of molecular biology in which biological processes are understood from the level of the gene through proteins that direct the development and function of the creature. Genetics is therefore playing an increasingly central role in the medical field, and no physician can remain ignorant of its fundamental principles and practice.