DIPC10: Medicine tomorrow, today

2010/09/27 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Biokimika
• Osasuna
• Farmakologia
• Medikuntza
• Azokak, biltzarrak
• Giza zientziak

Prior to her interventions, she was officially inaugurated by Pedro Miguel Etxenike, director of DIPC, and Isabel Zelaa, Education Advisor. Both emphasized the need to invest in basic science, putting in young people hope and concern for developing science.

Then they gave the word to Robert Langer. Langer made a review of his trajectory. He studied engineering, but, unlike his colleagues, he did not want to work in an oil company, but in medicine. And get it. Precisely, biotechnology and the science of materials have since worked in a field in which they have achieved important advances.

In his speech he mentioned some of them, from the beginning. Thus, he recalled how the system of release of angiogenesis inhibitors was designed in the place, time and quantity needed. He also explained the role of nanotechnology in the development of new drug release systems. Specifically, in addition to anticancer drugs, its laboratory is working on the development of systems suitable for the administration of insulin, growth factors, molecules for gene therapy and vaccines.

In addition, he showed spectacular examples of new biomaterials designed in the MIT laboratory, such as the healing of a small child with severe burns thanks to a laboratory tissue. He also showed prostheses cultivated by sowing cells on a polymeric support (rabbit with human nose, another rabbit with human ear in the ear) and explained how mice and prostheses introduced by the monkey were triggered that could not move the back legs. Representative images, advertisers of a near future.

Third Revolution

Aaron Ciechanover also spoke about the immediate future of medicine. Precisely, he said that we are on the threshold of the third medical revolution. Before, however, he warned that it is impossible to realize the dream of surviving and healing all diseases.

However, medicine has made great achievements. He explained that the first revolution occurred thanks to unexpected discoveries and gave examples of aspirin and penicillin. The second revolution is based on the power of mass screening of chemical compounds. Thus, for example, anti-cholesterol statins have been found.

Ciechanover announced that we are now at the gates of the third revolution. Thus, the XXI. He noted that the medicine of the twentieth century will be a medicine with four P: " personalized, predictive, preventive and participatory ", that is, adapted to each person, predictable, preventive and participatory.

Ciechanover explained what personalized medicine was. Personalization does not mean that a drug is invented for each patient, but that a suitable treatment will be applied to the molecular or genetic profile of the patient. This methodology is already used, for example, in breast cancer. Thus, at present, breast cancer is not said to be a cancer, but a group of cancer.

He also said there will be a way to calculate what possibilities a person has to develop a certain disease. However, it warns that managing this information can bring problems. In his opinion, the topic should also be addressed by psychologists, sociologists and experts from other fields. In short, it considered the interdisciplinary collaboration necessary.

The conference ended with a note to scientists, who are responsible, according to Ciechanover, for communicating science to the public showing not only advantages and beautiful but also problems. Yesterday at least they fulfilled this responsibility well, both Langer and Ciechanover.