After decades of scientific investment and research costing billions of dollars, Australia is now proceeding to a new technological advancement of personalised medicine which yields results that were deemed impossible.
Advance personalised treatments are now possible. This is all because of the procedure known as complex genomic testing and gene therapy.
The said procedure changed the lives of Hayden and Tyler Smith, 16 and 12 of ages respectively, from Melbourne.
The brothers are afflicted by a serious condition that triggers asthma and terrible bowel problems. This made them spend a lot of time in hospitals to receive proper treatment.
According to their mother, Belinda McTaggart, the different hospitals they’ve visited only provided treatment to alleviate the symptoms, not the underlying causes, and the condition worried her from time to time.
The doctors guessed that the problem was genetic. Through such a hypothesis, the investigation can be pushed through because of the recently developed complex testing.
According to Dr. Joanne Smart, a doctor from the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance, they came up with such a guest after attending a fishing expedition.
She told that the treatment that they needed to provide should be appropriate with the evaluation of their genomic material.
After going through tests using thousands of different genes, they found out that the brothers have a rare genetic condition called IPEX syndrome. The said genetic condition makes the immune system attack the body’s own tissues and organs.
After finding out the real problem, the doctors were able to provide appropriate treatment for the brothers through bone marrow transplants.
She affirmed that the boys are already cured and the mother of the boys added that they have become more energetic than before.
Ms. McTaggart also told that through such treatment, the boys were able to secure a better future for their own lives.
Re-programming Patient’s Cells
Professor John Rasko, a hematologist at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital told that he has been working in the field of cell and gene therapy for three decades.
He added that the advancement in gene therapy could also provide a possible path for treating cancer.
This could be done by reprogramming the patient’s cells and genes that would make their own body target cancer cells.
In Australia, cell and gene therapy treatment for patients with leukemia and lymphoma.
The previous treatments use cannonball technology such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy that blasts the whole body that could even damage other healthy cells. The new advancement offers a more targeted and precise approach.
New surgical tools customised for the body
Personalised medicine also uses robotics. At the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision in Brisbane, Australia, there is a project that develops a tiny robot that could manage all sorts of surgeries.
The first surgical procedure examined for the robot is arthroscopies which are also known as keyhole surgery which is usually done on the knees.
According to Jonathon Roberts, the chief investigator at the centre, the development is new because there have been no accounts of using robots to provide minimally invasive surgeries.
He added that they develop robotic systems that could be grounded in different corners because the present way of surgical operations invoke surgeons to use different tools and straight camera systems.
This is done after scanning the affected area, which in this case is the knee. The computer then will generate an ideal tool to match the knee. A 3D printer will then print a microscopic tool.
Dr. Ross Crawford told that they are hoping that the application could also be done to different parts of the body such as the shoulder, hip, and abdomen.
He added that in the future, surgical operations in the brain could also be done robotically.
Burn Specialist Told that 3D Skin Printing is Developing
According to Professor Fiona Wood, a Perth-based burns specialist and 2005 Australian of the Year awardee, complex burns surgery and its development and application to personalised medicine should be expected.
The said procedure would use iKnife to analyse the condition of the burnt tissue, whether it should be replaced or not.
She affirmed that the said advancement is very interesting.
She added that the said technology would also use skin printing. This is a 3D programmed skin printing using bio ink, cells and point of care which will be applied to the appropriate body site.
She told that it may not happen in her course, but she is certain that it will happen.
Professor Wood that the contribution of Australia is a major thing in such innovation.
Australia should take steps in challenging the paradigm because if not so, there could be a tendency that Australia will remain at the receiving end of the technology and thus be more vulnerable.
She added that Australia should at least be one of the key players of the game.
