Technology continues to have a major impact on healthcare and how it’s delivered in the U. S. The use of the technological developments in healthcare is what raises basic questions and the issue of whether or not it is ethical or moral to do so. The technology and research used in the US have no ranked one of the highest, are known as the best worldwide, and have therefore allowed Americans promising breakthroughs in the areas that include cancer treatments, surgical treatments, innovations in biotechnology and pharmacology.
The advancements in genetic research has allowed the world of medicine to better understand perplexed medical conditions and the abilities to soon prevent or reverse many inherited conditions with the help of genetically engineered drugs. Along with many controversial ethical issues involving healthcare, biotechnology is an area that poses a dilemma and raises a moral debate. In all, biotech has improved human healthcare and enabled biotechnologists to develop ways to give faster, more precise tests and therapies with less side effects.
Key New Developments in Biotechnology Biotechnology had been described as “the chemical processes and products of a range of organisms discovered empirically” (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1991). The main challenge of biotechnologists, with new metabolic processes and their interrelationships being developed, was the inheritance and regulation of synthesized enzymes and myriads. This challenge over the years has been met thanks to molecular genetics which have provided tools for biotechnology use in many areas across healthcare.
The future of biotechnology is so promising due to the sophistication of modern biological sciences. It includes introducing genes of plants and animals to create transgenic organisms and developing innovative treatment and therapies for patients suffering from chronic disease. New and The Effects of Biotechnology in Healthcare 3 unexpected ways of doing things has and continue to be the excitement of innovation for the field of biotechnology. What is Biotechnology in Healthcare?
I reference to healthcare, biotechnology, also referred to as healthcare biotechnology, According to The European Association of Bioindustries, is a medicinal or diagnostic product or a vaccine that consists of, or has been produced in living organisms and may be manufactured via recombinant technology (2009). This form of technology has the mission of targeting the disease and offers new solutions to patients which include; higher clinical effectiveness, and superior therapeutic and diagnostics approaches (EuropaBio, 2009).
The European Association for Bioindustries explains that biotech produces information used to alter and improve cell behavior in areas that include medecines (gene therapy), vaccines and diagnostics. Overall, biotechnology in healthcare offers high hopes to treat patients with disease. Biotech has strongly increased the efficacy and number of diagnostics The advances in biotechnology has allowed for the direction of medical conditions more accurately and quickly.
Take the biotechnology based tool of home testing kits for example, the newer generation of this product give results that are more accurate than earlier ones and can be used at earlier stages of disease (HIV, Hepatitis C). The diagnosis of infectious diseases can now be made early on, making it possible for early treatment, unlike tests used prior to the use of biotechnology. Now with the use of biotech in diagnostics, simpler blood test allow doctors to measure the amount of “bad” cholesterol in the blood and also eliminates the need for expensive and invasive surgeries in regards to certain types of cancer (Ovarian, Prostrate).
Previously the aforementioned diseases were diagnosed The Effects of Biotechnology in Healthcare 4 much later some even after signs and symptoms began. The benefits of biotechnology as a whole offer not only cheaper tests that are quicker and more accurate, but it enables physicians to diagnose issues early resulting in much greater prognosis. Biotechnology based tools has and continues to make improvements in health care services provided to patients. Treating the Cause of the Disease Instead of Symptoms will greatly increase
The causes of morbidity and mortality have changes over the past century from infectious disease to chronic disease. This shift is the cause and effect of the increase in life expectancy and raises the question of whether biotechnology companies and research in academia can help those living with chronic illness live longer lives. In his article as a guest columnist, Christoph Wetphal states that “These new types of cures are likely to reach the market over the next 30 years based on compelling research in academia and biotech” (2010).
Westphal also explains the 1st approach at increasing longevity known as regenerative medicine. As people age many develop organ malfunctions, similarly as one would see with cars for example. As the car gets older and more miles are added, then the parts begin to fail. For humans it seems that disease is the cause of our damaged organs. Surprisingly, humans have stem cells that can replace organs and tissues. Because of this, body functions can be improved by stimulating those cells and using them as replacements.
Advances in medicine enable people to live with chronic illnesses. In the future biotech should and might increase the life span of human beings with regenerative medicine. Biotechnology promises to treat the disease instead of the symptoms as in cystic fibrosis, which is a disease that negatively affects the ion pumps in cells, In return gastric and respiratory symptoms develop. Gene therapies are in the process of delivering normal copies of the defective gene, allowing cells to make working ion pump version that will ultimately cure the disease.
The development of gene The Effects of Biotechnology in Healthcare 5 therapy offers high hopes of cures for chronic diseases including cancer and cystic fibrosis. The results will decrease genetically chronic diseases and overall increase in life expectancy. Future of Biotechnology in Healthcare The future for biotechnology will be able to offer patients better and more choices in healthcare. The advances in therapy and diagnostics will continue to change the way disease is prevented, treated, and possibly cured.
This shift in healthcare holds great potential to improve the lives of critically ill patients and a concomitant to increase longevity. Personalized medicine, pharmacogenomics, gene therapy and stem cells are just a few areas that will be impacted by the innovative changes. An Amgen scholar, a national and international research program, defines personalized medicine as the concept in which patients should be treated with therapies and medicines based on each patients unique genetic makeup. This concept is different from the standards that are used currently to practice medicine.
Today averaging the responses of large groups of people is what determines the standard of care. This new technique of personalized care will manage the disease of a patient based on age, gender, weight, diet, along with other specific characteristics. Genetic testing will also continue to be included in personalized medicine. This has allowed care to be given based on genotype. This issue of which drug and the amount to prescribe that will work for an individual or those groups of people, who have the same genetic makeup, is the challenge of a movement referred to as pharmacogenomics.
Again, according to Amgen scholars, this area of healthcare takes advantage of the ideas that individuals have unique genomes and each person’s genetic makeup will react differently to a drug and the dosage taken. In understanding the makeup of individual patients, doctors can prescribe the best possible drug and the correct dose that will work well with fighting a particular disease. The advancements in personalized medicine and pharmacogenomics together will allow researchers to The Effects of Biotechnology in Healthcare 6 Target the diseases at an individual level and enables physicians to address the needs of that patient individually.
These two areas in healthcare will improve clinical trials for new medications and allow more advanced screening for disease, explains information provided by Amgen. Using these two hand in hand will result in more efficient and effective preventive care and services. Gene therapy concentrates on patients who have deadly diseases and have very little treatment options available. In the future, the technique will allow doctors to insert a gene into a patient’s cell, replace the “bad” or mutated genes with healthy ones or introduce a new gene to treat a particular disease or disorder.
Stem cells are cells that can develop into different types of cells and can be used a repair system for the human body. Stem cell therapy which involves growing the cells in a laboratory and directing them toward a specific cell, is another new innovative therapy used in healthcare. Still in the experimental stages of research, this therapy aims to replace damaged cells will healthy cells by performing surgery to put them in place with intentions of having the cells replaced and reversing the already damaged cells.
This theory might also be referred to as regenerative medicine—-hence what is actually does. This cell replacement process would open doors to treat or cure many chronic illnesses. New Drug Delivery Systems Microspheres are also being studies y biomedical researchers aiming to guide drugs to their intended targets. This development will allow doctors to improve the effectiveness of treatment and the overall health of patients.
As of today these microscopic particles that carry the drugs to their sites, are available for lung cancer and respiratory illnesses. Main Ethical Issue in Biotech Healthcare The Effects of Biotechnology in Healthcare 7 The costs and access to treatment is one of the many ethical issues regarding healthcare biotechnology. Drugs such as erythropoietin, used to restore blood supply in caner patients or TPA (Tissue Plasminogen Activator) used to break up clots in patients who have suffered from heart attacks or strokes due to clotting, have become expensive.
Generally U. S. insurance companies will cover the costs of these drugs however; this might not be the case in other countries. I this particular issue, biotechnology promises to eventually increase drug discovery productivity and increase the number and availably of new drugs. According to Gibson (2008), “Biotechnology in the future may also lead new ways to clean up contaminated environments and the pollutants and wastes mankind produces……. ith the population of the world needing better healthcare, cleaner air, water and food, biotechnology can hopefully provide some answers. Healthcare and its delivery will change in great depths in the years to come. Genetic testing will create advances in new innovative diagnostics and therapies, changing even how diseases of the human body are prevented, treated or cured. Drug producers will take a more active role in providing treatment to patients and health information to those living healthier longer lives than in previous years.
