The Missing Link

Originally Published MX November/December 2001

COVER STORY

The Missing Link

GE Medical Systems (GEMS; Waukesha, WI) is looking for the missing link between the kind of diagnostic imaging traditionally accomplished with the company's equipment and the still-futuristic possibilities that may be derived from studies of the human genome.

This link could lead to a quantum leap in the diagnostic process, opening a window on the earliest signs of disease. The identification of these signs might be accompanied by an expanded understanding of the biochemical processes that underlie physical symptoms of disease. If pharmaceutical companies can develop therapeutic agents that snarl the early disease mechanism, they could delay or even prevent the onset of physical symptoms of disease.

The route to this goal is ripe with opportunity for GEMS. The development of advanced diagnostic tools capable of visualizing early signs of disease will be critically important in identifying patients needed to develop and test new therapeutic agents. Once these drugs have been developed, such advanced tests will be necessary to find