The realization of personalized medicine is the greatest medical challenge of the 21st century. Through highly effective preventive medicine programs, the application of personalized medicine to preventive medicine (personalized preventive medicine) in particular is expected to contribute significantly to the resolution of problems such as reducing the incidence of disease and facilitating effective, efficient use of social security funds in rapidly aging societies.

Expectations for personalized medicine have recently intensified due to the Human Genome Project, which has unveiled virtually the entire base sequence of the human genome.1, 2 However, decoding the genome sequence alone is not useful for promoting healthcare. Personalized medicine can be offered to the public only after risk genes for diseases have been identified in large genomic cohort studies in healthy subjects, and drug development research, as well as preventive and therapeutic applied research, has been conducted. Because genomic cohort studies are applicable to a wide range of diseases, including lifestyle-related disorders, they are essential for the realization of personalized medicine, especially personalized preventive medicine.3, 4

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