The Age of Scientific Wellness

Taking us to the cutting edge of the new frontier of medicine, a visionary biotechnologist and a pathbreaking researcher show how we can optimize our health in ways that were previously unimaginable.

We are on the cusp of a paradigm shift in the delivery of health care as major diseases are being challenged in fresh and unexpected ways. Using predictive technologies, applied immunotherapy, and genomically informed disease prevention, scientists are working closely with patients to dramatically extend their “healthspan”—the number of healthy years before disease sets in. Leroy Hood, whose innovations made possible the sequencing of the human genome, and Nathan Price, whose work on systems biology is opening new pathways to Alzheimer’s treatment and prevention, take us on a thrilling journey to this new frontier of medicine.

Today, most doctors wait for clinical symptoms to appear before they act. Countless patients are prescribed medication and subjected to invasive procedures from which they derive no benefit. We must move beyond this reactive, hit-or-miss approach to usher in real precision care or “scientific wellness.” Fusing information gleaned from our personal genomic profiles with data drawn from our blood, microbiomes, and hundreds of other inputs, all analyzed by artificial intelligence, doctors can detect the early onset of disease decades before symptoms arise, revolutionizing prevention. Current applications have already shown startling results: Alzheimer’s held back, cancers found early and eliminated, diabetes avoided, and autoimmune diseases neutralized.

Genomically informed medicine is not some future fantasy: it is already happening at top medical centers, but only for a narrow band of diseases and only once they are well advanced. This book shares the insights of this exciting new science to help you chart a course to a longer, healthier life.

Leroy Hood, MD, developed the DNA synthesizing technology that made possible the Human Genome Project and is cofounder of the Institute for Systems Biology. The inventor of systems biology, proteomics, and P4 medicine, he has won the Kyoto Prize, the Lasker Award, the Heinz Award, the National Academy of Sciences Award for Chemistry in Service to Society, and the National Medal of Science. Nathan Price is Chief Scientific Officer of Thorne HealthTech and Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology. He was selected as one of the 10 Emerging Leaders in Health and Medicine by the National Academy of Medicine. He received the Grace A. Goldsmith Award and was appointed to the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.