Although it is well understood that the disciplines of medicine and public health are different in their goals and practices, in the context of genomics this difference is even more pronounced. While medical genetics concerns the clinical decision made by a doctor to use genomic knowledge for the benefit of the patient, public health genetics may be defined as the systematic integration of genomics into public health research, policy and practice.1 What does it mean? When on 27 June 2000 the BBC announced the revealing of the human genome, the so-called ‘book of life’, it was predicted that this step in scientific research would make it possible to ‘banish inherited disorders, screen people for their vulnerability to diseases, tailor treatment to an individual's genetic make-up, create thousands of new drugs and extend human lifespan…’. The results have dealt everyone some surprises, for example … * Correspondence: Dr Helmut Brand MSc MFPH, Director, Institute of Public Health North Rhine-Westphalia (logd), Westerfeldstr. 35–37, D-33611 Bielefeld, Germany, [helmut.brand@loegd.nrw.de][1] [1]: http://helmut.brand@loegd.nrw.de