John Kim of UCLA works in the biotechnology industry as a sales consultant. In the following article, John Kim discusses the various advances within the field of biotech – and how, without this progress there would not be promising stem cell research, or the ability to pinpoint certain genes of individuals susceptible to rare diseases. Nor would advanced, lifesaving treatments be available for these rarities.

And that’s just the beginning.

Thanks to biotechnology, the future of medicine is now.

John Kim of UCLA explains that with advanced medical biotechnology, cancer tumors may be more effectively targeted, and treatment plans can be tailored precisely to individual patients. Biotechnology advances have made it possible to enter genetic code into cells, allowing medical professionals to treat diseases at the cellular level.

John Kim Explains Medical Biotechnology

Medical biotechnology refers to the development of products and modern approaches to treating medical conditions that use some form of advanced technology.

John Kim of UCLA says that a large subfield is pharmacogenomics, where technology is used to discover, study, and manufacture new medications and safe vaccines. Biotechnology fuels gene therapy and medical analysis aided by genetic information.
Medical professionals can use biotechnology to test for specific genetic diseases and then treat these conditions through gene therapy.

Personalized medicine would not be possible without biotechnology and pharmacogenomics. John Kim of UCLA says that not only does it lead to tailor-made medicines for a range of conditions, but it provides the ability to pinpoint, and hone in treatment options for chronic diseases.

Drugs are now increasingly created based on RNA molecules and proteins, which are integral parts of genes associated with serious medical conditions.

John Kim of UCLA says that genetic engineering is also largely used to manufacture vaccines that are safer and more effective than past treatments, leading to a quicker immune response.

It has been nearly 50 years since scientists first showed how to genetically engineer living cells to create DNA-encoded proteins, steering a brave new world of pharmaceutical production and creating a distinct biotechnology industry.

Since then, medicine has gotten personal.

Personalized Medicine Growth

John Kim of UCLA says that at the heart of personalized medicine is the belief that since people have individual and unique molecular characteristics, medicine and treatment plans should be correspondingly unique and targeted.

It eschews the traditional one-size-fits-all mentality about ways to treat a vast majority of medical conditions.

With personalized care, doctors and researchers may be able to understand the very specific details of how one’s cells are coping with a disease and then create a very specific treatment plan or drug that would work best for that individual. John Kim of UCLA explains that it can lead to everyone’s complete genome being sequenced and referenced each time one enters a hospital or clinic.

The scope of personalized medicine is still undefined, though possibilities are considered limitless.

Many drugs have been created that seem to work the best when it fits with a precise genetic profile, such as imatinib and warfarin. A recent example is ivacaftor, a drug used to treat cystic fibrosis that was designed to work only for patients with a certain genetic mutation according to John Kim of UCLA.

Such crafted pharmaceuticals may be used not just to treat disease but to create something akin to preventative surveillance and prevention approaches.

Immunotherapy can also go hand-in-hand with personalized medicine and biotechnology. This form of cancer treatment is discovered by specific genetic alterations found within a patient’s cancer tumor cells.

John Kim of UCLA says that doctors typically harvest cells from the patient and then alter the cells in a way that has better control over one’s immune response. The cells are then added back into the body with the goal that they will begin attacking the tumor on the cellular level.

Genetic information is now used frequently in order to create highly personalized strategies to prevent disease. Many studies have shown how uncovering such information leads to a lowered risk of diseases and related complications from treatments and screenings.

One successful example of this approach involved a treatment for colorectal cancer that decreased the risk of death from the disease in those with a PIK3CA mutation.

Other Advances in Personalized Medicine

Every day, John Kim of UCLA explains that biotechnology is used by researchers and other scientists to study and develop highly personalized treatment approaches.

Personalized medicine has shown promise in treating diabetes and Alzheimer’s in addition to various forms of cancer.

We know that if a patient has mutations in genes including the BRCA2 and BRCA1 genes, there is a stronger chance that breast cancer will develop. By uncovering such mutations through screenings, targeted treatments can begin early.

And that could very well be the difference between life and death.