Further information about Systems Medicine at the BCSSS
Maintenance of health and the development of diseases are the result of complex dynamic interactions. Systems Medicine is the application of systems biology approaches to medical research and medical practice. Its objective is to integrate a variety of biological/medical data at all relevant levels of organization using the power of computational and mathematical modelling, from the level of inter- and intracellular molecular networks of the cell to the levels of the interdependence of humans and their environments.
As many side-effects of medications are caused by the linkage of different organ systems such as heart and lung, the immune system, endocrine system and nervous system, a new approach in medicine is necessary. These connections are statistically known as co-morbidity.
The first step towards systems medicine intended a better understanding of functions and dysfunctions of the organism by using computer simulations of cell and tissue processes. The connections can now be interpreted by such models that are based on data from inter- and intracellular molecular networks (cytokines, neurotransmitters, etc.).
At present, also clinical systems medicine is constituted that focusses on the interaction of organismic subsystems. Some protagonists call this the 4P medicine, for personalized (individual genome analysis), predictive, preventive and participative medicine (L. Hood, Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle) to develop innovative therapies and tailored preventive treatments.
The future outlook is a scenario in which the health care system itself might change based on these findings. A complementary research focus of the Bertalanffy Center in Service Systems Design for large scale, multi-stakeholder complex social systems like health care might be the next promising step.
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