ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an overview of how improvements in the state of the art of many methodologies for genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics testing are rapidly finding a place in modern medicine. Biomarkers are quantitative biological signatures of several physiological states or pathological conditions. It reviews the latest discoveries in quantitative neuroscience—specifically those that, through nanotechnology, hold the promise to foster the field of preventive and personal medicine in neuro-traumatology and neuro-oncology—and finally forecast how system biology will further enhance neurosurgery in the realm of diagnostics at the nanoscale. In quantitative neuroscience, identifying suitable biomarkers is pivotal to streamlining the clinical screening for early and ultra-early diagnosis of degenerative diseases, including cancers. The study of the brain as the main focus of neuroscience poses significant challenges for protein analysis. The demand for parallel, multiplex analysis of protein biomarkers from very small biospecimens obtained at the time of surgery, or through blood/cerebrospinal fluid samples during follow-up, represented for years an increasing trend.
