The procedure has been called “one of the most barbaric mistakes ever perpetrated by mainstream medicine.” Back when medicine was highly primitive, the process involved shoving an ice pick-like instrument between the upper eyelid and the eye in hopes of severing certain nerves of the frontal lobe.

This was the early method of performing a lobotomy. And just 50 years ago, they were carried out not only on severely mentally ill people, but also on moody teenagers, or housewives who’d lost their enthusiasm for domestic work. Seriously. Over 40,000 Americans were lobotomized, often with catastrophic results.

Thankfully, they’re a thing of the past. But it made me think about how medicine has changed over the years and what practices were once acceptable. Just a few hundred years ago, for example, you wouldn’t have questioned the “doctor” for putting leeches on you any more than you do today for prescribing an antibiotic.

What other

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Currently, medicine is, to a large degree, a “one size fits all” proposition. Doctors watch for adverse effects and check personal and family histories. Medical technologies, however, are designed for the general population, not individuals. That’s going to change.

Moreover, there will be huge profit opportunities, in many enabling technologies, for those who invest accordingly. And today I’m going to tell you about a company that will hand you your best chance to make a transformational fortune.

We know that many current treatments work on some people, yet not others. Some drugs are safe for many people, but have dangerous side effects for others. This is because all of us have individual differences in our genetic code based on heredity and environment. Even slight differences can lead to very different reactions to medications.

This has created serious regulatory problems. Drugs are denied regulatory approval not because they do not work, but because some

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Highlighted companies include Genentech, inc. (DNA), Amgen, Inc. (AMGN) and Wyeth (WYE).Waxman's Bill Bad for Biotech Companies (and Doctors, Patients and America)California Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has proposed legislation, along with his colleagues, that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to approve generic (bioequivalent) versions of biotech drugs. As of now, there exists no path to approval for so called follow-on biologics as there is with small-molecule pharmaceutical products.According to the Wall Street Journal, the main contention on the bill remains how many years of market exclusivity a product would receive after approval. Mr. Waxman is calling for 5 years, whereas the biotech companies and trade organizations are asking for 14 years.This is a serious issue for investors in biotechnology stocks, in our view. Allowing ...