To revolutionize healthcare is the vision that unites hundreds of innovators, clinicians, research pioneers, and policy makers around Europe. A perspective article on the topic and the Lifetime Strategic Research Agenda presents a detailed roadmap how to use latest scientific advancements and technologies for maximum advantage over the next decade. To use these technologies for tracking, understanding, and treating human cells throughout the lifetime of an individual.
In the meanwhile – The lifetime Initiative jointly coordinated by the Max Delbrueck Center of Molecular Medicine at Helmholtz Association, Berlin and Institut Curies in Paris has developed a program to advance personalized treatment for five major diseases: neurological, cancer, chronic inflammatory, infectious, and cardiovascular diseases.
The aim of such as initiative is to develop personalized new-age cell-based interceptive medicine for Europe. The objective of this medicine is improved health outcomes and most cost-effective treatment, to result in immensely changing a person’s healthcare experience.
Deviation from normal Developmental routes cause for diseases
For functioning, healthy body cells follow developmental routes during which they acquire specific roles in organs and tissues. However, if they deviate from the healthy normal route, they accumulate changes resulting in diseases, which remain undiagnosed until symptoms are shown. Detection of disease at this stage, often requires invasive medical treatment, and is expensive and inefficient.
However, now there are technologies to capture the molecular structure of individual cells and to diagnose therapy resistance or emergence of disease much earlier.
The use of breakthrough single-cell and imaging technologies in combination with artificial intelligence and personalized disease is one. This allows to predict onset of disease earlier, and also select the most effective therapies for individual patients. Hence, targeting disease-causing cells to seize disorders before irreparable damage happens will substantially improve the outlook for many patients.