Medical Biotechnology

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Medical Biotechnology
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Introduction

• Medical biotechnology is the fusion of genetics,
  cell biology and many other sciences in order to
  further advances in medicine.

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Why is medical biotechnology important?

• The main reason for medical biotechnology is to
  prolong life.
• Other reasons are to ease suffering of palliative
  care patients or to increase accessibility for
  people with disabilities.

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Current Areas of Research
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1) Monoclonal Antibodies (mAb)

• They are so called because they are clones of an
  individual parent cell.
• Remember, antibodies are specific proteins that
  target pathogens invading our body.

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1) Monoclonal Antibodies (mAb)

• Steps in making them
• Human antibody genes are put into a mouse.
• Mouse is infected causing it to make human
  antibody producing cells (B-cells).
• These cells are removed from the mouse and fused
  with a tumour cell.
• Now we have a tumour cell that is constantly
  producing antibodies and more cells like itself.

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1) Monoclonal Antibodies (mAb)

• This technology is used primarily to fight off
  cancer cells as these monoclonal antibodies can
  be trained to target markers that show up on
  cancer cells.
• The mAbs will then destroy the cancer cell and go
  looking for more.

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2) Bioprocessing

• Bioprocessing is the mass production of human
  proteins, vaccines, etc by genetically modifying
  bacteria or viruses.
• This allows for a large quantity of the desired
  product to be created in a short amount of time
  and for a relatively low cost.

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2) Bioprocessing

• The main product currently bioprocessed is
  insulin, the human protein responsible for
  lowering blood sugar after eating.
• The human gene for insulin is placed into
  bacteria, these are cultured and allowed to
  produce insulin which is collected, purified and
  sold to the millions of diabetics worldwide.

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3) Stem Cells

• A stem cell is a cell that has the potential to
  become any cell type in the human body.
• Everyone has stem cells, but they are very hard
  to access.
• The easiest place to get stem cells is from an
  embryo.

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3) Stem Cells

• Stem cells are introduced into a damaged area of
  the body where, under the right conditions, will
  replace the damaged area.
• Often times stem cells are grown in a lab first
  to ensure the right conditions and then placed
  into a sick person.

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3) Stem Cells

• Stem cells are currently being tested to treat
  everything from Crohns disease to baldness!
• The main areas where stem cells have proven their
  worth is in bone marrow transplants, replacing
  damaged heart tissue after a heart attack and
  replacing damaged nerve tissue which gives hope
  to anyone who has had a spinal cord injury.

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4) Tissue Engineering

• A form of regenerative medicine, tissue
  engineering is the creation of human tissue
  outside the body for later replacement.
• Usually occurs on a tissue scaffold, but can be
  grown on/in other organisms as shown on the right.

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4) Tissue Engineering

• Tissue engineers have created artificial skin,
  cartilage and bone marrow.
• Current projects being undertaken include
  creating an artificial liver, pancreas and
  bladder.
• Again, we are far from replacing a whole organ,
  but just looking for refurbishing our slightly
  used ones at the moment.

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Homework

1. Define the following terms medical
   biotechnology, bioprocessing, tissue engineering,
   stem cell and monoclonal antibody.
2. Which technology do you feel is/will be the most
   effective/helpful? Why?
3. If you had the cash and the technology, what
   would you tissue engineer and why?