Synthetic biology, or the utilization of synthetic chemistry in biology, is a wide term that refers to the development of biological systems with structure and functionality not found naturally in order to process data, express chemicals, generate energy, preserve the cell environment, and improve human health. Synthetic biology gadgets help us not only to enhance our health but also to improve our environment. It provides a grasp of disease mechanisms & diagnostic tools that are new synthetic biology-based methods that allow for the development of new strategies for the treatment of cancer and immune system disorders infectious diseases and metabolic problems diseases, as well as the development of low-cost pharmaceuticals.
How is Synthetic Biology related to Personalized Medicine?
Personalized medicine simply refers to the use of unique treatments that are best suited to a given patient. Pharmacogenetics, transcriptomics, pharmacogenomics, pharmacometabolomic, and pharmacoproteomics data are commonly used. Other individual discrepancies in patients, as well as environmental factors, are taken into account [1]. Personalized medicine entails merging early illness detection, preventive cure, rational medication discovery and development, and therapeutic monitoring into healthcare.
The easiest method to integrate new technologies and translate them into practical applications for enhancing healthcare is to think of customised medicine as systems medicine. Personalized medicine has already benefited from nanobiotechnology [2]. Biological therapies are playing an increasingly important role in customised medicine [3]. Initially, pharmacogenomics and pharmacogenetics were used to pick pharmaceuticals from a pool of accessible options, but sequencing data now allows for the creation of novel tailored treatments.
Personalized Medicine in relation to Human Genomes
The incorporation of data from genomes, sequences, and derivative products (such as RNA, metabolites, and proteins) into medical decision-making is now bolstering personalized medicine: genome-based medical assays can be used to anticipate risk, screen for transmitters, develop clinical diagnoses and diagnosis for individuals, and direct clinical management (4).
As a result, human genome data now enables doctors to build optimum care plans at every stage of a disease, moving the focus from responsive to preventive health care. There are presently numerous key time periods along the continuum from health to disease where genomic applications are personalizing health treatment. Using DNA-based assessments that do not alter over a person’s lifetime, disease susceptibility and risk may now be evaluated and predicted during health and even at birth.
When transcription profiles, protein expression patterns, and biomarker levels are linked with dynamic imaging modalities, it may be possible to screen individuals who are at high risk of acquiring a disease at its first molecular manifestations while the condition is still preclinical. The same data could lead to a definitive diagnosis as well as a molecular categorization that predicts prognosis. Pharmacogenomics—the study of genetic variation and pharmacological efficacy and toxicity—is also becoming a popular application of genomic data in clinical practice.
Both the patient’s inherited biological composition and the molecular architecture of the disease in the individual can be used to inform treatment selection. Providers can now use online CDS systems to estimate the right dose based on a participant’s genotypic and clinical information, which is a great illustration of this method.
More about Synthetic Biology & Personalized Medicine
Biologically, the disease is a genome-determined homeostatic modification of physiology. Given that ageing is an illness under this premise, it is plausible to believe that modifying a person’s genes could extend their lifespan. However, pharmacokinetics, the prevalence of illnesses, and their evolution are all influenced by genetic factors. That is because each person’s genome differs greatly from the population average, it is impossible to develop a drug or treatment that is very effective for a group of people. These divergences are exactly what enriches a population at the species level but at the expense of people with the weakest genes for survival in a particular set of circumstances. This is where the concept of personalized medicine takes hold: each person’s genome, epigenome, and metagenome can be determined in the blink of an eye.
The Verdict
All of these projects will be adopted in society in the future years. However, this could exacerbate existing disparities in human welfare between first and third world countries. On the other hand, it is undeniable that humanity will have very powerful means at its disposal to modify this and many other truths, as progress is rapidly reaching all areas of knowledge.
Now consider this: what is medicine’s limit? Any substance’s therapeutic effect is determined by its spatial-temporal properties as well as its chemical-physical action. Synthetic biology is already working on platforms to control gene products (proteins and mRNA) in mammalian cells spatially and temporally. This, together with the above-mentioned gene-editing, might bring us a step closer to the virtual immortality that humanity has long desired.
[1] Jain KK: Textbook of Personalized Medicine. Springer, New York, 2009.
[2] Jain KK: The role of nanobiotechnology in the development of personalized medicine. Med Princ Pract 2011;20:1–3. 6
[3] Jain KK: Role of biological therapies in the development of personalized medicine. Expert Opin Biol Ther 2012;12:1–5
[4] Collins FS. 1999. Shattuck lecture: medical and societal consequences of the Human Genome Project. N. Engl. J. Med. 341:28–37