Abstract

Genomic medicine involves the provision of medical care that uses the power of genomic knowledge and technologies to resolve complex problems. This means knowing any or all mutations in the genes of an individual or an individual’s cancer. . We will describe how genomic approaches are changing our understanding of cancer, as a model system. We describe two strategic approaches pertinent to breast cancer: estrogen receptor dynamics, and genomic rearrangements in breast cancer using a single cell line, the MCF -7 cell line as a starting point. Iterative investigations that start with genomic discovery in a cell line proceeding to validation by database interrogation and biological assessment allow for a scale of exploration that is both comprehensive and precise. Higher order analysis of such data can provide a holistic mechanistic explanation that can encompass the complex and sometimes contradictory input-output associations seen in experimental systems.