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I have to say that most of the discussion on this thread has been so depressing that I am sorry I ever brought it up.

However, your point about tailoring medical treatment to racial groups piqued my attention.

It seems to me that we're going to get past that very fast and go directly to HLA sub-groupings. I think that's where the future of that concept lies.

I am taking part in genetic research with respect to my rheumatoid arthritis, which statistically does have a genetic component, and does run in my family. For that, they are looking at the HLA sub-groups for sure.

It seems to me that we're going to get past that very fast and go directly to HLA sub-groupings. I think that's where the future of that concept lies.

Actually HLA typing is related to a set of very specific tissue antigens involved in immune reactions. As you know, rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disorder. Tissue antigen typing is important for transplant immunity as well. You see, you are talking about a very specific instance of genetic testing.

Genetic testing for other diseases and for specific pharmaceutical tayloring go way beyond that and is a huge and growing field. It is a leap forward in medicine.