Conférence par le Directeur Général de l'Institut Roche : ""In Control of Life"

All organisms, including humans, are continuously under attack. The attacks can e.g. be intrusions by foreign pathogens, or they can result from some internal part of the living system that goes rogue and threatens the stability of the entire system. Still many of us enjoy stable and healthy existences over extended time-periods. The goal of biomedicine is to support and prolong those healthy states. I will describe how, over the last decades, detailed and massive measurements on living systems have revolutionized our understanding of some fundamental life processes. Furthermore we will look at several examples of how, in biomedicine, this new knowledge has led to precise and successful interventions to support and control human health. Finally, I will discuss what the future might hold in store for us in terms of controlling and prolonging Life and discuss what a combination of Mathematical and Biological modeling can contribute to achieve some of the goals.