Innovation continues to drive the advance of precision medicine. The latest powerful tools include genomic sequencing, artificial intelligence, wearables, and electronic health records. Technological advances provide huge steps forward in the field of medicine, but how are we supposed to put them all to work? How do we get the most out of them and use them to enhance precision medicine? At present, researchers work on a global platform to find detailed answers to these questions.
The Need for Precision Medicine
There’s no doubt that the medical industry has made huge strides over the last decade. But in spite of all the advancements, like developing COVID-19 vaccinations, there is a need for precision medicine to move further, faster. Human biospecimens play an important role in conducting precision research and development.
7 Areas Precision Medicine Must Focus On
Huge Longitudinal Cohorts
Biomedical databases help aggregate patient data on genes, lab results, and lifestyles. It’s simply not possible to extract these insights and biomarkers from smaller samples. If this data is made available to researchers, it can be standardized so it’s more easily shared. Then it can be collected into a single database from which everyone can work. A huge cohort would have a huge impact on global research efforts.
Big Data and AI
Until the most recent decade, researchers haven’t had access to solid datasets so they could analyze them. The good news is that this is rapidly changing. The growth of clinical data, molecular technologies, and the availability of wearable devices help provide high-resolution data streams that expand the availability of environmental and detailed phenotype data that was not available on such a large scale.
Routine Clinical Genomics
Today, there is limited use of clinical genomic sequencing. It is mostly used in specific cases such as rare genetic diseases and certain cancer cases. Many genomic tests are only looking for a few genetic markers. As precision medicine advances, a whole-genome approach will become more routine. It should be one of the earliest steps to help understand, prevent, detect, and treat both common and rare diseases.
Electronic Health Records
Electronic health records (EHR) are commonplace today giving access to mounds of data to patients, doctors, medical professionals, and researchers alike. In one study, the participants had on average over 190 clinical notes, over 700 lab tests, and 14 radiological studies over an 8-year period. If this information source can be combined with routine genomic sequencing, it can yield decades of data for research.
Diversity and Inclusion
Having more diversity in research studies would offer numerous benefits including addressing disparities and yielding risk stratifications. Presently about 85% of the participants in clinical trials are white. Having more diversity in clinical trials and in the life sciences workforce should deliver better research results.
Phenomics and Environment
Wearable devices can prove invaluable. Most of a person’s life isn’t spent in the health care system. Integrating information from wearable devices into other patient-provided information could be a huge plus and enable wider telehealth capacities. Wearable devices have been improving since the onset of their use and can more accurately track metrics like oxygen saturation, physical activity, heartbeat, and environmental exposures. Some of the latest devices are able to link with restaurants and grocery stores to provide new information on dietary habits.
Return on Value
Participants can be provided something tangible of value in exchange for providing their data for the advancement of precision medicine.
Final Thoughts
Presently, it seems each of these seven areas is progressing rapidly. But if it can all be pulled together to help with the advancement of precision medicine, it will make it easier to reach and maintain health goals. The end goal of course, is to enhance processes used for detecting, preventing, or treating diseases more effectively.
Resources
https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/understanding/precisionmedicine/definition/
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/precision-medicine
https://www.cdc.gov/genomics/about/precision_med.htm
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics/precision-medicine
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5101938/
