Biomedical Technology: Advances, Ethics, and Human Impact

Introduction to Biomedical Technology

The field of biomedical technology has been growing by leaps and bounds over the past half-century. At the beginning of that period, many research scientists and their funding corporations were starting to realize the amazing potential of this field for both humanitarian and commercial use. Advances in the use of recombinant DNA techniques, cell fusion, and related methods were revealing tremendous potential regarding their impact on human health, life, and longevity (Blackford, 2006, p. 526). Biomedical technology has become a tremendous boon to mankind, creating completely new approaches in the treatment of diseases and consequently extending life expectancy in ways that had never previously been imagined. In our lifetime we have certainly seen the immediate effect of this — evident in advances that have enabled paramedics and doctors to artificially maintain the body's critical functions in emergency situations that would otherwise have resulted in immediate death ("Death," 2007).

While many feel that some of the research conducted in this area may cross the line on certain moral and ethical dilemmas, there can be no argument that these new achievements have improved the quality of life and increased our ability to probe ever deeper into the mysteries of existence. As mankind continues to develop in all areas, research into biomedical technology will continue to grow, generating knowledge and techniques that provide ever greater benefits to humanity.

Historical Growth and Driving Forces

Although having its roots much earlier, it was in the 1970s that the rate of technological advancement followed a steep upward curve. This was largely due in the beginning to research by the pharmaceutical industry. These innovations, coupled with a spirit of entrepreneurship in the United States, were the fuels that drove the engine of biomedical research at that time, and in many ways remain the ongoing catalyst for advancement. Another key factor was the supply of:

an abundance of basic knowledge that was the cumulative result of decades of generous public funding of academic research in molecular biology and medicine. Intellectual property protection and technology transfer regimes channeled this knowledge into the market, where highly mobile scientists and entrepreneurs, supported by a large venture capital industry, shouldered the burdens of founding and growing companies around it. (Collins, 2004, p. 147)

As early as 1985, Dr. Charles S. Scroggin was indicating that there was a need for medical professionals to keep pace with the ever-increasing wealth of information and tools becoming available in the biomedical technology field. This was especially true in the area of genetic research:

Because these approaches are yielding fundamental insights for diagnosing and treating disease, it is important that practitioners begin to understand these methods and how they are used. Methods for genetic analysis using recombinant DNA techniques consist of isolation, separation, propagation in microorganisms, and molecular hybridization of DNA. The study of RNA allows determination of gene expression. These methods are being used to understand cancer, identify hereditary illness, produce pharmaceuticals, and diagnose common clinical problems, such as infectious diseases. (Scroggin, 1985, p. 819)

Advances in Genetics, Mental Health, and the Genome

These advances in biotechnology have also created avenues and insights into areas of illness previously thought to be untreatable by any organic means. Certain forms of mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, are now regularly treatable through drug therapies in combination with talk therapies, with remarkable results. Great strides have also been made since the mapping of the human genome, creating subsequent discoveries such as the possible genetic treatment of diseases like Alzheimer's and schizophrenia, which appear to be within reach.

As Andreasen (2003) explains:

The mapping of the brain is made possible by a variety of new technologies that permit us to understand things on a large scale, a scale that neuroscientists refer to as the "level of systems," by which they mean functions of the mind such as memory and attention. The mapping of the genome is made possible by spectacular advances in the technology of molecular genetics and molecular biology, which work on a very small scale at the level of the molecule. (p. 7)

This boon to mankind is also a boon to many corporations that have already patented new biomedical technologies, and the search for more continues to create further employment in this field. Hecker's report, Occupational Employment Projections to 2014, notes that "employment of biomedical engineers is projected to grow almost twice as fast as employment of industrial engineers over the 2004–14 period: 30.7%, compared with 16%" (Hecker, 2005, p. 70).

In specific areas such as therapeutic cloning, there is certainly much more exploration required. Beyond corporate investment, there is also a need for greater support — both economic and legal — from governmental organizations and legislatures. As Harold Varmus, the former NIH director, wrote in the New York Times:

Such research is vital not just to biotechnology companies and their investors, but to the nation as a whole. By structuring our system so that only those with private funds or a commercial motive do this pioneering work, we curb our full capacity to expand our scientific understanding.

To put it another way: as long as a federal-funding ban remains in place, the organizations most likely to move forward with therapeutic-cloning research will be large companies burdened by the need to raise money, generate buzz, and please investors (Dunn, 2002, p. 32).