Genesis

GENESIS (from Greek genesis), origin of something. In application to diseases, the concept of G. merges with the concept of pathogenesis. The latter denotes the mechanism of disease occurrence. Knowledge of pathogenesis represents the final task of pathology, as it assumes familiarity with both the etiology of the disease and the conditions favorable to it, and with the dynamics of the pathological process itself. The correct doctrine of the genesis of many diseases became possible only comparatively recently, when with the development of pathological anatomy and pathological histology the morphological substrate of a number of diseases became known; but alongside organic diseases there also exist so-called functional diseases, where the microscope has not yet revealed morphological changes. Here much can still be expected from progress in the field of microscopic technique, but the decisive word remains, mainly, with pathological chemistry. Concerning histogenesis-see Histogenesis. Lit.-see Pathogenesis.