"The Physiome Project started off by looking at the heart, but it soon spread to the lungs, then the musculoskeletal system, and now all 12 organs in the human body," Hunter says. "The idea is to create mathematical models that link gene, protein, cell, tissue, organ and the whole body into one cohesive framework that will eventually become a Web resource for diagnosing and treating patients, surgical planning, education, and the design of medical devices." Hunter says the Physiome Project is still in the early stages, but there have already been..." The whole article.
If I remember correctly, in the UK they are already investing billions to get all health related information of every single person digitalized. And the same idea is a core concept in the healthcare reform plans in the USA. And when society is strong enough, I believe, that each of us will have his DNA code and will get asked (or, before we can really understand - in regard to some information the parents will be asked...) from the doctor:
"Well, I have some information for you, I can provide you with a probability to being developing a certain disorder, I can tell you also which... but I must tell you how to change behavior that will reduce the risk and which will prevent your insurance costs increase by approximately 2 Dollars a month, if you do not want to stop drinking less than a liter vodka a week. Please tell me, which information you want to talk about this year." An individual might answer: "Jaa, you are talking about alcoholism, huh". I am not sure, what a moral answer would be on that, maybe the Dr. would reply "I am sorry, I must not tell you until next appointment, but I must tell you that you should stop drinking." "And what about the aaeh beer? And what the heck, just 2 Dollars, are you kidding? No, that is not fair, please rise it more, please!!"
...or whatever, but 2 Dollars would be really a low cost I think! Probably the health system would have to have extremely good treatment for alcoholism!
So, Cheers
oO
For serious background-info.
Foto from: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=Physiome&m=text
