Engineering is of paramount importance in this era where the promise of personalized medicine and deadly infectious diseases are to be tackled. Drugs and treatment exercised today are normally catered for the mass due to technological constrain and economical reasons. However the response of treatment and effectiveness of the drug differ for every individual. For example, the common drug prescribed by the local pharmacist to treat fever is paracetamol but not every individual’s immune system can work together with this drug to kill the fever-causing bacteria. This is the part where biomedical engineering come in to produce specific treatment and medicine for these individuals. Recent cataloging of the human genetic endowment, and deeper understanding of the body’s complement of protein and their biochemical interactions, offer the opportunity to identify the specific factors that regulate sickness and wellness in any person. (Cited from “Introduction to the Grand Challenges for Engineering” , http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx). To realize the promise of personalized medicine, engineers encounter three main challenges which are developing better systems to rapidly assess a patient’s genetic profile, collecting and managing massive amounts of data on individual patients and to create inexpensive and rapid diagnostic devices such as gene chips and sensors able to detect small amounts of chemicals in the blood. (Cited from Engineer better Medicine, http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx). Just in 2007, an approximated 8 million people died of cancer due to late detection of the disease and lack of proper treatment. People around the world are dying because they do not have access to the correct medical care for their disease or the cost of treatment is very high. Personalized medicine will enable one to receive accurate drugs so that diseases can be detected earlier, treated accurately and ultimately cured in the shortest possible time. Moreover, it will reduce the cost of having multiple treatments just to cure a disease, as the drug manufactured will suit an individual specifically. In brief, personalized medicine is still in the early period where rigorous Research and Development are to be done to explore deeper into this field. Men will reap numerous benefits with the advance of medicine engineering which makes it “The” Grand Challenges of Engineering.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Hello Calvin. First of all thanks for the comment on my essay. Overall, your essay is well organized with benefits of personalized medicine clearly pointed out. Connectors are frequently used, making readers able to focus more easily on your essay. Examples are given appropriately. A job well done for the 1st essay!
It is commendable that you have given numerous examples to support the importance of personalized medicine in this present world. On the other hand, I believe that with more breakthroughs discovered by the engineers, this not only provides cure to developed countries where the incidence of diseases are better aware, it also benefits to those developing countries without proper medical access.
Hi Raymond! Thank for your comment. Initially i wanted to talk about both (personalised medicine and medicine for the mass) but in the end i had to choose either one so that my first assignment didn't look too long. So i thought i would concentrate on a topic that not many people will see it as important as we are still tackling the problem of distributing medicine to the mass. Anyway, thanks for your comment!
I would say the way you express your idea really impress me, it's sound very professional and it's very easy to grasp the main point of the essay. However I think in the part where you "cited", it could be better if you use footnote. It would make it easier to comprehend and making the essay looks more ...uhm... how should I say it, more concertrated on the problems. Just personal opinion, though.
Wow~! It's really an impressive essay! Examples are given appropriately and the whole essay is clear and persuasive! Hmm… However for the sentence ‘This is the part…individuals.’ I think it should be ‘…engineering comes in…’ (Subject-verb agreement). Please correct me if I’m wrong. Anyway, you really had done a good job!
Post a Comment