Medicine, the new challenges of the future
The science of medicine, after being concentrated for a year in the research of the vaccine against Coronavirusis making a great start in its fight against diseases and viruses who try to hide or seem invincible. The strategy seems to be winning is that of precision medicine, that approach that leads to individualized therapies and targeted research on each patient’s problem. No longer a generalized medicine but, as far as possible, an approach “tailor made”. All this begins to be possible thanks to the use of bioinformatics, nanomedicine and artificial intelligence. The road is still long and the obstacles are great but the scientists’ research is mainly directed towards nine major challenges:
Medicine, the resistance of bacteria to antibiotics
The challenge to the resistance of bacteria / viruses. After the nuclear explosion made with the discovery of antibiotics now many microbes have grown stronger and are capable of resist the antibiotic endangering the patient’s life.Antimicrobial resistance is now a global problem. There are many scientists who warn that a new pandemic could be upon us and then we must be prepared. How?. First of all with one global surveillance computer network, then improving the techniques of genome sequencing and, thanks to bioinformatica, prepare algorithms capable of predicting the direction of new potential infections. And then new research on alternative antibiotics capable, when combined with existing drugs, to break down the defenses of resistant viruses. Among these many hopes are placed on “Bacteriophages” real killer of the bacteria, able to infect and kill them.
Medicine, precision oncology
The strengthening of precision oncology. Immunotherapy, a true discovery of the last decade, must be strengthened. One of the steps in this direction will be to use the knowledge gained in cancer when it has advanced to the disease with early diagnosis. And then i new drugs. Now we think about personalized vaccines / drugs. With the study of tumor antigen, ad hoc treatments could be prepared. in this sense, CAR-T therapy will increase, a technique that selects T lymphocytes from blood from patients and genetically modifies them in the laboratory to make them more capable of recognizing cancer cells. Another research in this regard is the TIL (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes), an immunotherapy similar to CAR-T, but which directly attacks the lymphocytes of the tumor. Precision oncology is used, in some cases, already now for early diagnosis. liquid biopsy, for example, it will have to continue to be strengthened to detect certain types of cancer with a simple blood test. Additional help may also come from artificial intelligence and image digitization.
Medicine, the improvement of gene editing
CRISPR tools, capable of cutting a piece of DNA to modify or repair it, have revolutionized genetic engineering. Researchers can cut a exact point in the genome of any cell and manipulate it. But ethical issues are not lacking. Gene therapies in adults are allowed, but in the germ line (with sperm and eggs, in the embryonic stage) they are prohibited. Gene editing, however, it continues to be refined, looking for vehicles to bring those tools into the cells with more precise editing techniques. but the road is still long.
Medicine, nanotechnology, a very strong weapon
The cell is measured in microns, a thousandth of a millimeter, and for this you need suitable tools to manage it. Nanomedicine, active for years, it has been perfected with the pandemic. Vaccines with messenger RNA against Coronavirus, they were able to act because RNA is encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles. In practice, nanomedicine gives the possibility to enter cells. The nanoparticles can penetrate cancer cells and, as they irradiate them, begin to vibrate and kill the malignant cells. Another ally will be in the controlled release of drugs, i.e. being able to bring the active ingredient to the right point and in sufficient quantity. Dreams that are becoming reality and are getting closer every day.