7 Big Biotech Ideas for 2019

The world continues to change rapidly and as living species, there’s a great need to adjust and adapt for us to keep up with life, learn how to take care and make use of things around us. Various experts are continuously seeking possibilities and discussing to us about these anticipated developments.

Biotechnology aims to fit man into the world

Biotechnology is the application of advances made in the biological sciences, especially involving the science of genetics and its application. The importance of biotechnology lies in the many questions that came up over time. Such of these questions are as follow, according to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on molecular biotech: How much control should individuals be allowed to exercise over the genetic makeup of their children? How much do we want to know about our own genetic tendencies or dispositions? How will society be affected if we come close to actually answering the age-old nature-versus-nurture question? And then there are more.

Biotechnology has no doubt helped open more opportunities in various fields that involve man’s growing power over human genetics, specifically in the health industry. It has helped improve food quality, quantity, and processing, manufacturing, and other applications that involve cells that are manipulated to produce chemicals. 

Here are 2019’s biotech trends for you to keep updated!

CRISPR Advancement

According to Feng Zhang, a biochemist from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, there are three advances of CRISPR, a technology that is simple yet a powerful tool for editing genomes. 

1. CRISPR-based medicine for blood diseases, like sickle cell, testing it in the eye to treat blindness. and applications in cancer treatments.
2. CRISPR as a diagnostic tool for infectious diseases, any sort of epidemic virus, bacterial infections or maybe even cancer
3. The ability of gene editing to improve agriculture and food safety 

AI’s main purpose

Poppy Crum, Chief Scientist at Dolby Laboratories stated that the purpose of AI should focus on its capability to enhance human capacity instead of trying to replace them and their qualities. 

Huge food tech developments

Two defining moments, according to Mike Lee, founder of The Future Market, made big impacts for food tech in the year 2019.

Tyson Ventures made an investment in a company in Jerusalem called Future Meat Technologies - They have huge control over the protein market, which will prompt competitors to follow suit

The United States would not regulate CRISPR-edited crops - introducing a CRISPR food product has become way easier

The power of technology in your thoughts

With the ample attention of companies towards brain-computer interface [BCI] advancements, it’s something that assistant professor of CRWU for biomedical engineering Bolu Ajiboye is grateful for. However, for the purpose of eliminating people’s possibly unrealistic expectations on BCI work, he made it clear that “these devices can provide some significant function, and possibly some enhancements, to people who have a neurological injury, and then possibly in some small way this will trickle down to the general public.”

Reversing the biological clock

Exciting developments in longevity research to watch for in 2019 which Dr. David Sinclair Harvard Center for Biology of Aging describes as “one of the most interesting times in human history.”

Dr. Sinclair's studies confirmed the role of raising NAD levels in reversing many aspects of aging in mice. Many human studies on NAD have been released recently and more are expected to be published this year. There have been a rise of attention towards cell rejuvenation and NAD booster supplements that support this biotech trend.

Healthcare as a worthy investment

Esther Dyson, the executive founder of a health nonprofit called Way to Wellville, encourages the government to educate the mass that health spending is an asset, and in fact an investment rather than the term spending. According to her, rather than having to fix people who are broken, it would be a lot better if we kept them healthy in the first place. She emphasizes prevention over cure, saying “So much about being healthy is not about innovation, it’s still about all the ‘boring’ stuff: early childhood experiences, the environment in which people live, transportation to jobs, healthy food, etc.”

The need for Synthetic Biology

Natsai Chieza, founder of a biodesign lab named Faber Features talked about the need for further discussion on the potential of synthetic biology. According to her, while the creation of new materials is a major goal, there is also a big possibility lying in the repurposing of materials or the creation of sustainable chemicals from existing materials found in nature to bring sustainable futures in reality. 

 

There’s a lot to take in with biotechnology. Not everyone instantly understands its purpose, and how big of an impact it will create to our lives. This is why a continuous conversation with the world is a vital part of the development. Keep yourself updated with the latest trends discussed by our experts!