On Biomedicine

By H. Robert Horvitz

ver the past 5-15 years, the closely interrelated fields of biology and medicine have blossomed in ways unexpected and to many unimaginable not very long ago. For example, we have learned that genes—the bits of DNA that make us what we are—are so remarkably similar among different organisms that we can study what they do in a tiny fly, in a microscopic worm, or in a single-celled yeast that is used to brew beer and learn how corresponding genes work in humans and go wrong in human disease. The comprehensive study of genes, as exemplified by the Human Genome Project, has led to the new field of genomics and to a revolution in biology and medicine.

Today we are poised as never before for advances in the field of biomedicine. Technological advances will continue to impact the field, with increased computational power making possible more complex analyses of ever-larger data sets and improved bioimaging capabilities allowing us to delve deeper into the bodies of living experimental animals and of humans, with probes that are of increasing temporal and spatial resolution and of greater and greater biologic specificity. We will better understand complex biological systems, including the cell, the organism, and the interactions of organisms with their environments. Just as molecular neurobiology has helped integrate the efforts of molecular biologists and neuroscientists and as genomics has become a language common to fields as disparate as ecology and medicine, collaborations will continue to increase among researchers in the fields of biology and medicine. Collaborations will also increase between researchers in biomedicine and other disciplines, including chemistry, physics, computer science and numerous areas of engineering. Nonetheless, science driven by the creative independent investigator or small research group following a unique vision will likely remain the driver of the basic discoveries that lead to new knowledge and to the most novel applications.

The challenges will be many. The public and the U.S. federal government must believe in and support science. We must instill in K-12 students an excitement for science, as there was in the years of the space program. Young scientists must be offered the opportunity to pursue their scientific dreams with sufficient resources and within the context of a supportive environment.

If these challenges are met, one can envision a future in which biomedical science revolutionizes the field of medicine. Personalized medicine offers one example. New biomarkers will facilitate the diagnosis of disease, the assessment of disease progression, and the discovery and development of new pharmaceuticals. New therapeutic strategies will be developed, such as stem cell therapy, which will impact both basic research and clinical medicine. Novel vaccines and other pharmaceuticals should improve human health not only in the rich but also in the poorest countries in the world. Advances in brain science, to me the most exciting area of biomedical research today, should help solve one of the greatest mysteries of the natural world—how the brain forms, works, and changes in response to its experiences. Advances in neuroscience and genomics together should reveal what makes the human brain different from the brains of our nearest relatives, the chimpanzee, the bonobo, and the gorilla. Such advances should also reveal why the brain sometimes malfunctions, for example, in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition, I hope that such advances will allow us to better understand ourselves and thereby to better interact with each other as individuals and as societies, making a safer and better world.

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