Washington, Nov 2 (IANS) Computational medicine, which is based on computer models and cutting edge software, is emerging as the hottest tool against unyielding cancers, cardiovascular conditions and a host of other diseases, says a study. <\/p>\n
These digital tools are enabling researchers to build on experimental and clinical data that can unravel complex medical mysteries, according to a review study authored by four Johns Hopkins professors from its Institute for Computational Medicine. <\/p>\n
Launched in 2005 as a tie-up between the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering and its School of Medicine, the researchers employ powerful computers to analyse and model disease mechanisms, the journal Science Translational Medicine reports. <\/p>\n
\"There is a whole new community of people being trained in mathematics, computer science and engineering, and they are being cross-trained in biology,\" said study co-author and Computational Medicine director Raimond Winslow, according to a Johns Hopkins statement. <\/p>\n
\"Looking at a disease through the lens of traditional biology is like trying to assemble a very complex jigsaw puzzle with a huge number of pieces and the result can be a very incomplete picture,\" he said. <\/p>\n
\"Computational medicine,\" on the other hand, \"can help you see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together to give a more holistic picture. We may never have all of the missing pieces, but we'll wind up with a much clearer view of what causes disease and how to treat it,\" added Winslow. <\/p>\n
Winslow's colleagues are Natalia Trayanova and Michael I. Miller, professors of biomedical engineering, and Donald Geman, professor of applied mathematics and statistics. <\/p>\n
\"Biology in both health and disease is very complex,\" Winslow added. \"It involves the feed-forward flow of information from the level of the gene to protein, networks, cells, organs and organ systems.\" <\/p>\n
\"This is already complex,\" Winslow said, adding \"to make matters even more difficult, it also involves feed-back pathways by which, for example, proteins and mechanical forces at the level of tissues and organs, and environmental factors regulate functions at lower levels such as the gene\". <\/p>\n
Computational models, Winslow said, \"help us to understand these complex interactions, the nature of which is often highly complex and non-intuitive\". <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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Computational medicine - hottest tool against diseases<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Washington, Nov 2 (IANS) Computational medicine, which is based on computer models and cutting edge software, is emerging as the hottest tool against unyielding cancers, cardiovascular conditions and a host of other diseases, says a study. Continue reading