Design and Practice of Wet- Dry Approach in Clinical Research of TCM
中医临床研究方法的思考与实践——系统生物学湿干研究模式与中医临床研究

The technological advancement of mass biological data acquisition and computer has made the systems biology based wet-dry cyclemodel a feasible approach. Both simulating and modeling part of the dry stage expect a novel biological knowledge and systematic model built on the original data, combining the strength of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics. The wet-dry cycle works to create a new approach for systems biology, which integrates both computer modeling and modern biological experiments. Clinical research has long been the core of TCM development. In this context, summarizing, enhancing, and expanding researchers' own clinical experience makes a popular approach for the theoretical study of TCM. As a matter of fact, personal medical experience and thoughts have to be processed through human brain, which is limited in both storage and processing capability. On the contrary, computer and information technology is able to handle an immense volume of clinical data. This paper discusses the wet- dry cycle for the clinical research of TCM. Based on an array of information approaches, authors have designed a full range wet- dry frame work combining clinical research and daily tasks, in an effort to enhance both clinical operation and research capabilities. The paper also presents the preliminary results derived from the wet- dry cycle systems and methods.