Over the past 50 years, like molecular cell biology, medicine and pharmacology have been driven by a reductionist approach. The focus on individual genes and cellular components as disease loci and drug targets has been a necessary step in understanding the basic mechanisms underlying tissue/organ physiology and drug action. Recent progress in genomics and proteomics, as well as advances in other technologies that enable large‐scale data gathering and computational approaches, is providing new knowledge of both normal and disease states. Systems‐biology approaches enable integration of knowledge from different types of data for precision medicine and systems therapeutics. In this review, we describe recent studies that contribute to these emerging fields and discuss how together these fields can lead to a mechanism‐based therapy for individual patients.

Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2013); 93 1, 117–128. doi:10.1038/clpt.2012.199