Personalized Medicine

Mass customization is the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing systems to produce custom output. Those systems combine the low unit costs of mass production processes with the flexibility of individual customization.

After the successful assembly of the human genome, five years ago, mass customization became possible in the medicine production also, that is personalized medicine. Personalized medicine refers to using information about a person's genetic makeup to tailor strategies for the detection, treatment, or prevention of disease. The human DNA code is a combination of 3 billion letters, this “instruction book” is 99,9% identical between two humans. This 0.1 percent holds clues to the variations among humans in susceptibility to disease. Its discovery sheds new light on the biological basis of disease, which in turn provides new targets for therapies and new options for prevention.

The first application of personalized medicine is Pharmacogenetics, which is the study of inter-individual variations in DNA sequence related to drug response. Science now allows researchers to predict the probability of a drug response based on a person's genetic makeup. It's about getting the right dose of the right drug to the right patient at the right time.

Apart from creating better medication choices and safer dosing options, personalized medicine can offer tests for genes involved in susceptibility to serious diseases, such as breast cancer. By 2010, it is likely that predictive genetic tests will be available for as many as a dozen common conditions, enabling individuals to take preventive steps to reduce their risks of developing disorders. Due to the continuing technological development it is likely that each of us will be able to have our genomes sequenced using microchip technology. That information can then be used to guide prescribing patterns and develop a lifelong plan of health maintenance customized to our unique genetic profiles.

Additionally, HP Labs has used its inkjet technology to make a micro-needle drug patch. These patches contain 400 cylindrical reservoirs connected to a micro-needle. This system is fuelled by a low-power battery and controlled by an embedded microchip that is programmed to heat up any given reservoir to deliver a specific drug. The array is scalable, and it can be designed to contain tens or even hundreds of reservoirs, depending on its intended therapeutic use. Moreover, the patches may be customized to the patient’s needs, or even tiny sensors embedded in a patch could detect when medication is needed and automatically deliver it.




http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19365/page2/
file:///C:/iaac%20works/digital%20tech/CA00078.htm
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http://www.pwc.com/techforecast/pdfs/pharmaco-wb-x.pdf
http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/news/2007/03/72860
http://www.mlnm.com/about/personalized/index.asp