Biotechnology will make it possible to treat a broad range of currently "untreatable diseases" within the next 20 years, especially cancers, asthma and inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, it has been predicted.
The ability to genetically manipulate an organism to over-express a particular protein made a new generation of drugs possible, said Dr Luke O'Neill, of Trinity College department of biochemistry.
It was the ability to clone genes and the resultant generation of "recombinant protein" which was making new treatments possible, Dr O'Neill told the RIA conference. In the case of inflammatory diseases including arthritis, drugs were being targeted at blocking a step toward inflammation. The advantages of biotechnology, firstly, relate to safety; seen in the success of genetically-engineered factor VIII used to treat haemophilia, and recombinant human insulin. On the negative side, safety was a concern in the sense that biotech products were getting very quick approval for use - in comparison to chemical products - by the US Food and Drug Administration. Unexpected side effects from administering a new product to the body were possible. There were also efficacy problems. Natural insulin was more potent than its recombinant form, he noted. Another negative was the cost of treatments with recombinant products, on average $10,000 per year per patient in the US.
These issues, nonetheless, did not warrant "huge negativity" surrounding biotechnology and "completely unfounded concerns".
