CSCI/RCPSC Henry Friesen Lecture: The Past and the Future of Neurogenetics

Abstract

“To wrest from nature the secrets which have perplexed philosophers in all ages, to track to their sources the cause of disease … these are our ambitions” - Sir William Osler
 
 The main aim in neurogenetics is to characterize and understand the genetic causes underlying neurological diseases. Over time, progress has been made in several aspects of neurogenetics. In fact, the evolution of neurogenetics largely resembles the steps currently undertaken when executing a neurogenetics study. These steps include identification of a disease in a family, clinical description and characterization of the family, genetic analysis, and finally understanding the function of the causative gene. Along those lines, the evolution of neurogenetics could be divided in four eras namely the descriptive, the medical technological, the molecular genetics and the personalized medicine era.