Genome Medicine


Editorial

Predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory medicine: back to the future

Charles Auffray1*, Dominique Charron2 and Leroy Hood3

Author Affiliations

1 Functional Genomics and Systems Biology for Health, CNRS Institute of Biological Sciences, 7 rue Guy Moquet, BP8, 94801 Villejuif cedex, France

2 Jean Dausset Laboratory, Inserm U940 & Paris Diderot University, Hôpital Saint Louis 1, Avenue Claude Vellefaux, 75475 Paris cedex 10, France

3 Institute for Systems Biology, 1441 North 34th Street, Seattle, WA 98103-8904, USA

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Genome Medicine 2010, 2:57 doi:10.1186/gm178

Published: 26 August 2010

Abstract

The pioneering work of Jean Dausset on the HLA system established several principles that were later reflected in the Human Genome Project and contributed to the foundations of predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory (P4) medicine. To effectively develop systems medicine, we should take advantage of the lessons of the HLA saga, emphasizing the importance of exploring a fascinating but mysterious biology, now using systems principles, pioneering new technology developments and creating shared biological and information resources.