Biomedical Research: Current Investigations and Future Possibilities
THE REMARKABLE ADVANCES in the biomolecular sciences result from technological developments (most during the past 20-25 years) and a gradual cultural shift about how science is conducted. Today’s scientists work in multidisciplinary teams of biologists, chemists, clinicians, physicists, mathematicians, and engineers to solve biomedical problems. The Puerto Rico Alliance for the Advancement of Biomedical Research Excellence (PR-AABRE) project is an example of how young scientists and those with more experience come together from different fields to tackle specific biomedical problems. Institutions with different missions, resources, and constituents are working jointly to create a critical mass of scientists for Puerto Rico’s scientific and economic development and to educate a science-literate population.
One of the most exciting outcomes of the Genome Project is the knowledge about which specific genes trigger the expression of certain proteins, which genes are specifically needed for certain biological processes, how genes interact together, and the actions that result from those interactions. The Genome Project brought with it Proteome initiatives that aim to unravel and map the complete protein expression of the human being, including protein identities, structures, and functions within different cellular contexts. Moreover, Systems Biology (also called Metabolomics) was born of the realization that while it is important to know the genetic and proteomic composition of the human being, it is far more important to discover the intricate pattern of multiple, parallel, and simultaneous protein interactions—how these processes are interrelated and controlled—in order to understand biological processes at the cellular and subcellular levels. With today’s highly sophisticated biomolecular techniques and the scientific community’s efforts–often international in scope, for example the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO)–the basic sciences of chemistry, biology, and medicine are being pushed to unimaginable frontiers. The knowledge gained from multidisciplinary international efforts may allow scientists to design and discover new disease prevention, treatment, and pharmaceutical drugs from a combined genetic-molecular approach.
Research conducted by biologist Sandra Peña is an example of how the genomic and proteomic fields contribute to the understanding of how memory is produced, stored and used—knowledge that could lead to new ways to treat devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Because genes express proteins, a nucleotide change in a particular gene might lead to a defective protein and eventually to a disease. Knowledge of protein structure and function is important to discover and design new drugs and treatments. Organic chemists Abimael Rodríguez and Néstor Carballeira extract from the almost endless tropical sea biodiversity new chemical targets that could be used as therapeutic drugs to treat diseases. The structure of these bioactive compounds are being elucidated and further modified to better interact with defective proteins. Proteins do not work alone; in many instances, they are precisely assembled to function in a concerted way. Drs. Fernando González and José Lasalde independently work with two such protein complexes: the P2Y2 and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. Knowledge of these proteins’ complex organization, localization, and the structure/function relationship of their individual components is crucial to understanding physiological responses.
The tremendous amount of information derived from these studies can be modeled to predict systems’ behavior and emergent properties. Mathematician Mariano Marcano works with biologists to model the urine concentration mechanism in birds with the hope of understanding this same process in humans. An indirect benefit of the Genome Project is the genesis of new interdisciplinary fields such as Bioinformatics, which is necessary to manage, store, and decipher the high volume and complex data generated by the Genome Project and the post-Genomic era. An end result of the confluence of biology, mathematics, and computer sciences may be the simulation of novel microorganisms by the total synthesis of DNA molecules. It is not difficult to foresee a future for biotechnology where the genes, proteins, and interacting networks obtained from the databases of many different organisms could be combined to create new life forms with properties suitable for diverse applications.
Currently, there is a great need to revise the chemistry and biology curriculum to incorporate new knowledge and to train the next generation of biomolecular scientists with the techniques that they will face in industry, research, and academia. The National Academy of Sciences (2003) has published two reports, BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists, and Challenges for the Chemical Sciences in the 21st Century: Health and Medicine. Both reports stress the need for curriculum reform in sciences by the year 2010, including more research experience, mathematics, and bioinformatics courses.
Finally, the advances in biomolecular sciences and their direct consequences in medicine in the form of new therapeutic drugs and treatments bring up issues about costs, accessibility, and the government’s role in promoting health. Disciplines such as economics, sociology, and philosophy will be challenged to research the ethical, legal, social, and economic implications of genetic and genomic research, so citizens can make informed decisions about their own health and public policy.
