Not sure how to pronounce “mitochondria“? Want to listen to human genome expert (and current NIH director) Francis Collins serve as your own personal talking genetics dictionary, defining concepts such as “personalized medicine“? Federal gene geeks at the National Human Genome Research Institute have unveiled their latest online talking glossary of gene-speak.

It’s interesting to see which terms made the cut — and which didn’t.

You’ll find the essential terms of genetics, such as “base pair” or “X-linked.” Some terms that relate to broader health-related concepts, such as “pharmacogenomics,” are also included. But only a few actual health conditions made the list. You’ll find some rare disorders widely known to be genetic, such as Huntington’s Disease and hemophilia. And there’s a scattering of common health conditions where genetic factors have been fairly well identified, including diabetes and prostate cancer.

Lots of other common conditions were left out. Where, for example, is breast cancer? The glossary does include the BRCA gene variants, but doesn’t include breast cancer itself, even though other BRCA is far from being the only genetic factor involved in breast cancer. Nor does the glossary include colon cancer. The genetics of these conditions are fairly well understood,  both in terms of rarer single-gene factors and more common multi-gene factors. And these diseases affect hundreds of thousands of people. If you are going to help people understand the role that genetics can play in health, these aren’t conditions you want to leave out of a new public education campaign.

If you’ve got other nominations for terms or conditions to include, please weigh in! At the bottom of the glossary index page, you’ll find a link that lets you suggest terms directly to the glossary minders. Or you can post a comment here or email us, and we’ll gather suggestions and submit them.

You’ll find many of the same terms defined in our book. We talk about genetic factors and issues in diabetes in Chapter 4, and a variety of cancers in Chapter 5.

And if you’d rather have your genetic terms defined in silence, NGHRI has a text-based glossary as well.

Still not sure how to tell a SNP from a second-degree relative? You aren’t alone — and your doctor may be one of those keeping you company.

The LA Times reports on a recent survey of 10,000 physicians conducted by the American Medical Association and pharmacy benefits manager Medco. The survey asked physicians about their understanding of genetics, and comfort with using genetic information in their practice.  And based on their answers, it’d be fair to say most of the doctors surveyed would describe their level of comfort as “Hmmm…just about none.”

Only about one in four doctors, according to the LAT, said they had “any type of education in the use of genetic testing to guide medication decisions.” Only about one in 10 felt he or she had the necessary training to make good use of pharmacogenomics, the practice of using a patient’s genetic information to personalize their medications. Pharmacogenomics, while still relatively new, is widely considered to be an important medical use of genomic knowledge in the years ahead.

While the doctors in the survey didn’t feel prepared for the genetic age, they did know it’s here. According to the LAT, about 13 percent had ordered or recommended a genetic test for a patient in the last six months — but twice that many said they would do so in the next six months.

In our book, we’ve got the basics of genetics covered in Chapter 1, and an overview of putting personal genetic information to use in Chapter 2.