Download Medical Biotechnology

Introduction
 Medical biotechnology is
the fusion of genetics,
cell biology and many
other sciences in order to
further advances in
medicine.
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.
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.
1) Monoclonal Antibodies (mAb)
 Steps in making them:
1. Human antibody genes are
2.
3.
4.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
3) Stem Cells
 Stem cells are currently
being tested to treat
everything from Crohn’s
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.
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.
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.
QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
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?