In the promotional rhetoric of the scientific community, the success of much translational genomics research is measured in terms of how fast and well it can realize the orienting goal of personalized genomic medicine (PGM)17 in health care. But as ELSI researchers point out, adopting PGM as the orienting goal for translational genomic research is not a value-neutral choice: it puts our money on the virtues of this model for health care instead of alternatives [A-2; D-2]. For biomedical research planners and their public funders, embracing this goal responsibly means reconciling any health care trade-offs involved.
