WHAT will it be like knowing when and how I might die? The question hits me as I look at images showing the force that flowing blood exerts on a brain aneurysm. I’m at University College London (UCL), but the images are being produced by a simulation running on HECToR, the UK’s fastest supercomputer, based in Edinburgh.
The complex fluid-dynamics simulation is similar to those used by the likes of McLaren and Ferrari to design Formula 1 racing cars. Leaps in mathematics and computing power now mean that increasingly complex biological functions can now be simulated in silico instead of in vivo. Welcome to the future of medicine.
These simulations could soon run on desktop PCs. The biggest challenge will be presenting the data to doctors in a useful way, says Peter Coveney at UCL. “Today’s medics are not trained in fluid dynamics,” he says.
Ideally, we will be able to run biological simulations of the entire human body that are tailored to an individual. This would run from the level of molecules and genes, through cellular processes and tissues, to whole organs, blood vessels and the nervous system. It would be like having a body double to experiment on, testing outcomes of drugs, surgical interventions, and lifestyle choices.
Data drawn from millions of medical records already give statistical modelling a lot of predictive power. Throw in data mining and machine learning, and straightforward number crunching can then help to identify people who might be at risk. “You could haul them in before they have heart attacks,” says Coveney. But that would just be