Biomarkers: Evidence of Benefit

A biomarker, in the most general sense, is an indicator or predictor of a biological state. For research purposes, it must be readily measurable, sensitive but not too sensitive—the high-sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP) can literally be elevated if a patient stubs his toe hard—and capable of reliably representing something about the character of a factor, i.e., a nutrient, a physiologic process, or a disease prognosis that has known implications for health and/or disease variables.

There ar…