Although we may feel like the world is stopped, thanks to COVID-19, many companies consistently push for technological advances. According to Myeloma Research News, GNS Healthcare is one of those companies. They created a computer program called Gemini which can model and predict treatment responses and disease progression for multiple myeloma. Now, GNS hopes to change the healthcare field – and the understanding of multiple myeloma – using this in-depth technological resource.
Gemini
Altogether, the full name for the program is Gemini, the in silico “Patient.” It was developed through a collaboration between GNS Healthcare, other biopharmaceutical companies and medical centers, and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF). Although the name sounds a bit complicated, it isn’t! According to the Marshall Protocol Knowledge Base (MPKB), il silico:
is an expression used to mean “performed on computer or via computer simulation.” The expression in silico was first used [by] Pedro Miramontes, [who] used the term “in silico” to characterize biological experiments carried out entirely in a computer.
Within Gemini is a ton of data regarding multiple myeloma treatments, survival rates, disease progression, and patient outcomes. Additionally, the data follows that from the CoMMpass Study, which follows patients over a period of several years.
Next, researchers used artificial intelligence to analyze data. As a result, Gemini is able to create connections between different data sets.
Using these connections, Gemini then predicts disease progression and treatment efficacy using new patient data. Moving forward, the program can:
- Identify patients for clinical trials who are most likely to respond to treatment or benefit from experimental treatment options
- Predict and model patient outcomes without subjecting patients to potentially harmful treatments
- Determine effective treatment order
Multiple Myeloma
Researchers note that in many cases of multiple myeloma, patients are missing part (or all) of chromosome 13. Multiple myeloma develops in plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that usually fights infections. But when abnormal cells replicate, they crowd out healthy cells, creating abnormal antibodies.
Symptoms include:
- Nausea
- Kidney problems
- Constipation
- Appetite loss
- Spine and chest pain
- Fatigue
- Confusion
- Unintended weight loss
- Leg weakness
Learn more about multiple myeloma here.
