What does the term personalized medicine mean to you?

Vinod Khosla, technology entrepreneur, explains that personalized medicine is tailored medicine, created specifically for an individual's specific system.

Transcript

00:00

It turns out your nitric oxide in your blood, that's blood chemistry, goes up in your breath.

00:06

And so know you're going to have an asthma attack before you have it, not after you have it or after it's too late to do something about it.

00:19

The most personalizing element is, of course, genomics. Your cancer treatment should be tailored

00:25

to the genomics of your cancer. If your proteins or metabolites in your body, the chemistry and science of your body, is saying something,

00:34

we should listen to it and prescribe medicine or other prescriptions like exercise based on that.

00:41

Let me give you an example. You have this little company that's trying to invent a breath sensor. Now, of course, you can detect alcohol in the breath,

00:49

but it turns out you can also detect ketones. So if you're diabetic, ketosis is a major problem.

00:55

And ketones in your breath any time you want by just breathing in your wristband for a few seconds

01:02

is great. But if you're an asthmatic, it turns out your nitric oxide in your blood, that's blood chemistry,

01:10

goes up in your breath, and so know you're going to have an asthma attack before you have it, not after you have it or after it's too late to do something

01:18

about it. So whether it's diabetics, or asthmatics, or cardiology patients, or mental health patients,

01:27

or dermatology patients, with an ear infection for your kid, or a skin cancer-- they're all going to be subject to this.

01:36

Now, the world of medicine, these will feel like point innovations until they're enough of them.

01:44

And then they will combine into a wave and then a tsunami that will completely obsolete medicine as we practice it.