What is Biomedicine?

By Dr. Supriya Subramanian, Ph.D.Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM

Biomedicine involves understanding the underlying mechanisms and pathways responsible for the normal development and function of the body, thereby providing insights into disease pathology. Unraveling the underlying disease mechanisms aids in the identification of potential therapeutic targets and the development of novel drugs, diagnostic methods, treatments, and preventive strategies that can improve a patient’s quality of life.¹

Biomedicine plays a role in public health initiatives involving tracking and monitoring infection, the development of vaccines, and guiding public health officers in preventing the spread of infection. Biomedicine research is involved in disease prevention by identifying risk factors of diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, or heart disease, working in collaboration with healthcare professionals to develop prevention strategies, and informing public health officers to create healthier communities and minimize healthcare costs.²

Image Credit: Billion Photos/Shutterstock.com

Current Scope and Applications

Regenerative Medicine

Stem Cell Therapy

Stem cell therapy shows promise for patients with incurable diseases where the only treatment approach is disease management. Mesenchymal stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood were used to treat nine preterm infants to prevent the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).

Except for three preterm infants who developed BPD, although with less severity, all nine survived. After a 24-month follow-up, eight patients had normal pulmonary development and function and one developed an E. cloacae infection after 4 months of discharge, although unrelated to the intervention.³

Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering involves the assembly of cells, scaffolds, and biologically active molecules into functional tissues to restore or repair damaged tissues. Geliperm, a hydrogel comprising 96% water and the remaining 4% containing polyacrylamide and agar, has been used to treat burns and acute and chronic ulcers.⁴

PEEK is an FDA-approved high-performance semicrystalline thermoplastic polymer for bone implantation with an elastic modulus comparable to that of natural bone. However, due to its poor integration with surrounding bone tissues, bioactive metals like strontium have been introduced to promote cell differentiation.⁵

Genomics and Precision Medicine

Machine learning algorithms are crucial for interpreting genomic datasets for the design of personalized medicine. A person-centered data mining algorithm was developed that simultaneously integrated baseline profiles and genetic information to identify the benefit of an antipsychotic drug in patients with schizophrenia.

MetaFast, an algorithm designed to analyze metagenomes from new environmental niches, enabled the comparison of the microfloras of a healthy person vs a patient.⁶

Learn more about genetics and genomics

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Biomedicine

Diagnostics

AI is showing promise in the diagnosis of several diseases, especially cancer. For example, the input of a large dataset of mammograms by doctors into an AI system for breast cancer diagnosis showed a reduction in false positives by 5.7% and false negatives by 9.4% during mammogram interpretation. AI (91%) was better than radiologists (74%) for early breast cancer diagnosis.

Deep learning algorithms have been used for pneumonia diagnosis from chest radiography with a sensitivity and specificity of 96% and 64% compared with 50% and 73%, respectively, by radiologists.⁷

Drug Discovery

AI-enabled software has reduced the cost of preclinical drug development by 20%–40% and accelerated drug design and validation by approximately 15 times.

AI software has helped in better molecule construction, designing drugs with multiple targets, drug repurposing, and predicting the toxicity and efficacy of treatments using genomic profiling to identify patients who will benefit, helping clinical trial participant selection.⁸

Patient Care

DocsGPT, an AI-driven chatbot, was launched by Doximity to streamline prior authorizations, insurance claims, and patient communication.

Following approval of the AI-generated message by the doctor, the platform automatically sends it to the relevant party. The use of AI chatbots by physicians has lengthened their responses and demonstrated higher quality and empathy, enhancing the overall bedside experience.⁸

Nanomedicine

Drugs encapsulated within nanoparticles have shown promise in drug delivery systems with enhanced efficiency, minimal side effects, targeted and controlled drug release, and prevention of drug degradation.

Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have revolutionized cancer treatment by specifically targeting cancer cells while sparing the healthy cells. Lipid-based nanoparticles are designed to interact with resistant tumor cells, thereby overcoming multidrug resistance during cancer treatment.⁹

Advancements and Trends

Some advancements in biomedical research have provided innovative ways to enhance patient outcomes globally, which are discussed below.

CRISPR and Gene Editing

CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology offers precision and efficiency in correcting lethal mutations and disrupting disease-causing genes. The transcription factor BCL11A was identified as the suppressor of fetal hemoglobin and γ-bead protein expression in sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia.

CRISPR/Cas9 was utilized to downregulate the expression of BCL11A by cleaving its enhancer sequence in hematopoietic stem cells. FDA approved the application of CRD-TMH-001, a CRISPR therapy, for Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment.¹⁰

Immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy utilizes the body’s immune system to eliminate tumor cells. For example, ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 antibody, has been used to treat metastatic melanoma, wherein 20% of the patients survived for more than 4 years. CAR-T therapies (tisagenlecleucel and axicabtagene ciloleucel) have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of adult and pediatric B cell malignancies.¹¹

3D Bioprinting

Organ transplantation for end-stage diseases is limited by donor shortage, which is being alleviated by 3D printing technology. This technology has been used for tissue regeneration and transplantation, including heart, skin, bone, and vascular grafts.

For example, bio-ink was prepared by mixing induced pluripotent stem cells obtained from patient adipocytes with collagen, extracellular matrix, and other components to construct a miniature heart with major blood vessels, atria, and ventricles.

As the bio-ink components are derived from the patient’s cells, the artificial organ matches the patient’s cellular, immune, and biochemical characteristics.¹²

mRNA Technology

mRNA vaccines offer a promising alternative to traditional vaccines due to their enhanced effectiveness, cost-effective manufacturing, and safe delivery.

FDA approved the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine (BNT162b2) and the Moderna vaccine (mRNA-1273) for SARS-CoV-2. Two doses of BNT162b2 effectively prevented 87% of hospitalizations and 94% of symptomatic COVID-19. Primary and booster doses of both the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna vaccines showed 90% effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2.

The FixVac BNT111 mRNA cancer vaccine targeting four melanoma tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) has shown an antitumor immune response in phase 1 or 2 clinical trials wherein 75% of patients have shown an immune response against one of the four TAAs.¹³

Find out more about CRISPR

Challenges in Biomedicine

Ethical Considerations

Genomic data is required for biomedical research purposes; however, the ethical management of sensitive patient data remains a challenge due to leakage or misuse of confidential patient data to unauthorized parties.

Informed consent is an issue in gene editing as the germline is altered and the affected embryo and future generations have not consented to the therapeutic intervention. Genome edits at the incorrect site in the genome can cause off-target effects, leading to safety concerns for patients undergoing treatment. For example, a study showed unintended gene editing in 16% of the OCT4 CRISPR–Cas9–targeted embryos. Gene mosaicism is another concern because if the desired edit is not present in all the cells, it can affect embryo development or lead to new diseases.

Genome editing raises questions about equitable access to medically necessary interventions as it is expensive, and a person with an average income cannot afford it.

FDA-approved Lenmeldy for pre-symptomatic early juvenile or early symptomatic early juvenile metachromatic leukodystrophy is priced at $4.25 million per one-time treatment. This allows only the people with sufficient resources to benefit from the treatment.^14,15

Technical and Financial Barriers

Inadequate Funding and Resources

The allocation of limited resources and funding poses significant challenges in biomedical research. Funding from pharmaceutical companies, trusts, and foundations is either underutilized or lacking.

The Commission of Health Research recommends utilizing 2% of the national health budget and 5% of foreign aid for health programs for health research, which is ignored by most low- or middle-income countries. Researchers also face hurdles in procuring essential materials, further delaying research progress.¹⁶

Regulatory Hurdles

Developing countries face challenges in creating and complying with ethical guidelines of international standards due to the absence of infrastructure for administrative and ethical regulation of research, thereby reducing the research efficiency and quality.

International collaboration and cooperation are crucial for consistent ethical standards across countries and regions to promote responsible use of biomedical research.¹⁷

Multidisciplinary Collaboration Needs

Integration of Biomedicine with Omics Technologies

Multidisciplinary teams are crucial for modern biomedicine as they contribute to the advancements in scientific discovery and their translation into clinical practice.

The integration of extensive data from laboratory experiments, healthcare records, and clinical studies has revolutionized biomedical research. Advances in omics technologies have paved the way for personalized medicine, leading to improved disease diagnosis and patient outcomes.¹⁸

Integration of Biomedicine with Engineering

Biomedical engineering is an integration of medical knowledge with technical principles to design products, such as artificial organs, surgical robots, prostheses, and renal dialyzers, which have addressed various challenges in healthcare.

For example, medical nanorobots are delivered via the circulatory system to the human body using minimally invasive surgery. These nanorobots can record vital indicators and allow doctors to monitor cells, tissues, and bloodstream bacteria.¹⁹

Uses of Computational Models in Biomedicine

Conclusion

Biomedicine analyzes the biochemical, molecular, genetic, and cellular factors that comprise the human body in both health and disease.

The goal is to improve diagnostics, design novel treatments, and develop drugs with high efficiency, low toxicity, and few adverse effects.

References

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