Starting situation

Analyses of the human genome show that in addition to environmental factors, genetic variability through changes in the proteome and metabolome is crucial for the individual manifestation of multifactorial diseases.

The panoramic viewpoint of functional genomic analysis has awakened hopes of a new quality of understanding the process of disease, to achieve individualized diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

A key position is occupied by the identification of new biomarkers of easily extractable biomaterials.

New technological developments in the fields of metabolomics and proteomics and new methods for integrated bioinformatical analysis of the data substantially improve the prospects of success for the discovery of new biomarkers.

The current guidelines for treating common diseases do not adequately take the personal risk profile of the individual -- sometimes multi-morbid -- patient or the genetic basis of the disease into account. Studies have shown that a significant proportion of hospital admissions for adverse drug reactions (ADRs) cannot be explained by an incorrect dosage of drugs. There is preliminary evidence that genetic factors are responsible for some of these ADRs.

Aims

In Project Group 1, modern bio-analytical methods, especially in the field of proteomics, metabolomics, and pharmacogenomics, will be systematically further developed and used for studies of biomaterials from SHIP and patient cohorts to discover and validate new biomarkers.