: The growing demand for personalized medicine we are currently witnessing has given rise to more in-depth research in the field of biomarker discovery and, thus, in biological banks that hold the ability to process, collect, store, and distribute "high-quality" biological specimens. However, the notion of "specimen quality" is subject to change with technological advancements. In this perspective, we propose that the notion of sample quality should shift from a broad definition of "high-quality" to a "fit-for-purpose" concept more suitable for precision medicine studies. Digital twins are a digital replica of real entities. These are largely adopted in any digitalized domain and are currently finding applications in biomedicine. The adoption of digital twins for biosamples, proposed in this paper, can provide prompt information about the whole lifecycle of the physical twin (i.e., the biosample) and substantially extend the possible matching criteria between the available samples and the researchers' and physicians' requests. This fine-tuning matching could greatly contribute to improving the "fit-for-purpose" quality, not only for studies based on current needs, but also to improve the identification of the best available samples in future situations, determined by the evolution of technologies and biosciences. Assuming and exploiting a data-science view in our biobank perspective, the more (accurate) data there are available, the more information can be extrapolated from them, the more opportunities there are for matching future, currently unknown, needs. This should be a mandatory principle that the 'time machines' called biobanks should follow.

Nanni, U., Ferroni, P., Riondino, S., Spila, A., Valente, M.g., Del Monte, G., et al. (2023). Biospecimen Digital Twins: Moving from a "High Quality" to a "Fit-for-Purpose" Concept in the Era of Omics Sciences. CANCER GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS, 20(3), 211-221 [10.21873/cgp.20376].

Biospecimen Digital Twins: Moving from a "High Quality" to a "Fit-for-Purpose" Concept in the Era of Omics Sciences

Riondino, Silvia;Del Monte, Girolamo;Roselli, Mario;
2023-06-01

Abstract

: The growing demand for personalized medicine we are currently witnessing has given rise to more in-depth research in the field of biomarker discovery and, thus, in biological banks that hold the ability to process, collect, store, and distribute "high-quality" biological specimens. However, the notion of "specimen quality" is subject to change with technological advancements. In this perspective, we propose that the notion of sample quality should shift from a broad definition of "high-quality" to a "fit-for-purpose" concept more suitable for precision medicine studies. Digital twins are a digital replica of real entities. These are largely adopted in any digitalized domain and are currently finding applications in biomedicine. The adoption of digital twins for biosamples, proposed in this paper, can provide prompt information about the whole lifecycle of the physical twin (i.e., the biosample) and substantially extend the possible matching criteria between the available samples and the researchers' and physicians' requests. This fine-tuning matching could greatly contribute to improving the "fit-for-purpose" quality, not only for studies based on current needs, but also to improve the identification of the best available samples in future situations, determined by the evolution of technologies and biosciences. Assuming and exploiting a data-science view in our biobank perspective, the more (accurate) data there are available, the more information can be extrapolated from them, the more opportunities there are for matching future, currently unknown, needs. This should be a mandatory principle that the 'time machines' called biobanks should follow.
giu-2023
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Recensione
Esperti anonimi
Settore MED/06 - ONCOLOGIA MEDICA
English
Biobank
biospecimen science
digital twins
personalized medicine
review
sample quality
Nanni, U., Ferroni, P., Riondino, S., Spila, A., Valente, M.g., Del Monte, G., et al. (2023). Biospecimen Digital Twins: Moving from a "High Quality" to a "Fit-for-Purpose" Concept in the Era of Omics Sciences. CANCER GENOMICS & PROTEOMICS, 20(3), 211-221 [10.21873/cgp.20376].
Nanni, U; Ferroni, P; Riondino, S; Spila, A; Valente, Mg; Del Monte, G; Roselli, M; Guadagni, F
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/322360
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