Personalised medicine

Personalised medicine aims to customise health care, with decisions and treatments tailored to each individual patient in every way possible.

We’re all unique. Our health is shaped by our individuality combined with our lifestyles and environment.

By combining and analysing information about our genome with other clinical and diagnostic information, patterns can be identified. These can help determine each person’s risk of getting disease. They can also detect illness earlier and make clear the most effective interventions to help improve our health, be they medicines, lifestyle choices or even changes in diet.

The concept of personalised medicine isn’t new. Technological and scientific advances are already here and will continue to develop and improve medical practice.

Through the 100,000 Genomes Project, a ground-breaking and world-leading initiative, the NHS is building partnerships with universities and industry to decode the human genome in people with rare diseases and cancer.

This will help to predict the future development of disease, to make a diagnosis where one has not existed before and to identify treatments where possible.