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Digital twins – customized computer models that mimic objects or systems across their lifespans – have become increasingly common in industry. Now, digital twins have made their way into medicine and health care for insulin pump control, cardiovascular diagnostics and other therapies.

, Ph.D., a mathematician who is a professor in the ’s , and his colleagues write in a recent article in the journal npj Digital Medicine that building a digital twin of the human immune system is crucial, urgent and challenging. The benefits are significant: An immune system digital twin could be especially impactful for an array of diseases and conditions from fighting pathogens to addressing autoimmune disorders, they note.

Laubenbacher and his colleagues have now outlined the critical need for digital twins of the immune system and a four-stage process for building them. .