Progress And Challenges In Precision Medicine

Progress and Challenges in Precision Medicine

Progress and Challenges in Precision Medicine presents an insightful overview to the myriad factors of personalized and precision medicine. The availability of the human genome, large amounts of data on individual genetic variations, environmental interactions, influence of lifestyle, and cutting-edge tools and technologies for big-data analysis have led to the age of personalized and precision medicine. Bringing together a global range of experts on precision medicine, this book collects previously scattered information into one concise volume which covers the most important developments so far in precision medicine and also suggests the most likely avenues for future development. The book includes clinical information, informatics, public policy implications, and information on case studies. It is a useful reference and background work for students, researchers, and clinicians working in the biomedical and medical fields, as well as policymakers in the health sciences. - Provides an overview of the growing field of precision medicine - Contains chapters from geographically diverse experts in their field - Explores important aspects of precision medicine, including applications, ethics, and development

Toward Precision Medicine

Motivated by the explosion of molecular data on humans-particularly data associated with individual patients-and the sense that there are large, as-yet-untapped opportunities to use this data to improve health outcomes, Toward Precision Medicine explores the feasibility and need for "a new taxonomy of human disease based on molecular biology" and develops a potential framework for creating one. The book says that a new data network that integrates emerging research on the molecular makeup of diseases with clinical data on individual patients could drive the development of a more accurate classification of diseases and ultimately enhance diagnosis and treatment. The "new taxonomy" that emerges would define diseases by their underlying molecular causes and other factors in addition to their traditional physical signs and symptoms. The book adds that the new data network could also improve biomedical research by enabling scientists to access patients' information during treatment while still protecting their rights. This would allow the marriage of molecular research and clinical data at the point of care, as opposed to research information continuing to reside primarily in academia. Toward Precision Medicine notes that moving toward individualized medicine requires that researchers and health care providers have access to very large sets of health- and disease-related data linked to individual patients. These data are also critical for developing the information commons, the knowledge network of disease, and ultimately the new taxonomy.

PROGRESS AND CHALLENGES IN PRECISION MEDICINE