Gene analysis could notonly pave the way for personally tailored treatments in the new year but also allow doctors to tell people what they’re going to suffer from in the future. A study this year revealed a “coping” gene that determines why some people fall into depression in the face of stress and adversity whereas others soldier on. Genetic testing could give doctors the power to advise people on the basis of their genetic make-up about how to protect themselves against ill health. Experts believe this may enter healthcare in 2007.
DNA vaccines for bird flu
Expect flu pandemic stories to dominate the front pages, with experts predicting that bird flu may reach our shores. But there is a positive side. The desperate need for a quick way of developing a vaccine has put DNA technology in the spotlight. By injecting a small amount of viral DNA into the body, the immune system is prompted to make defences against the virus. This method was initially dismissed by regulatory bodies as a bit of a gamble. But since just a few grams of viral DNA would be enough to vaccinate the country, the authorities may take this more seriously.
Stem cells: the next generation
After using stem cells to restore sight to mice that had been born without vision cells, scientists have discovered that the tissue they used to repaired the mice’s vision were not stem cells per se but the cells in their “teen phase”.
En route to turning into any cell of the body, stem cells go through an intermediate adolescent phase and, at this point, they are known as precursor cells. Research bods found that these cells are actually better suited to replacing damaged tissue than conventional stem cells. In the coming year, scientists will be beavering away to learn more about these precursor cells and how they might be used in transplants for the blind.
We may be well on the way to restoring vision to blind people this time next year.
Brain implants: mind over matter
Moving things with your mind sounds like science fiction but you should expect it to be a reality soon. Chips implanted into the brains of disabled people can allow them to operate computers with their thoughts. This past year, two patients, including Matt Nagle (above), had a small device inserted in their heads and were taught to move a cursor by thinking about it. Scientists at Brown University, Rhode Island, are working on connecting this technology to limbs. By getting patients to think about an electrode implanted in a muscle, they hope to restore movement to damaged limbs.
Widespread use of needle-free jabs
Needle-free injections may have been around for a while, but next year they will be used much more widely in general medicine. They work by literally blasting minute particles of chemicals a couple of millimetres beneath the skin. The process is painless, doesn’t leave any injury and has big advantages in places where needle hygiene is a problem, such as the developing world.
Scientific check on organic food
New technologies will be able to prove the authenticity of foods through DNA profiling and sophisticated imaging. Trading standards officers will have sophisticated testing kits, which can prove whether or not food is organic by detecting if pesticides or other chemicals have affected its structure. Expect a wave of stories revealing how conned we’ve been.
Renewed efforts on Alzheimer's vaccine
An Alzheimer’s vaccination could be on the way. A trial of a vaccine in 2002 ended in failure when some of the patients reacted badly, developing brain inflammation. But researchers haven’t given up and believe that there is still promise. Scientists have gone back to the drawing board and we will see new approaches to Alzheimer’s vaccinations in the new year.
Molecules under the microscope
A giant microscope, the largest scientific structure to be built in the UK in the past 30 years, will be turned on in 2007. The Diamond Synchrotron, built in Oxfordshire, is the size of five football pitches. It uses very bright, highly focused light to illuminate the structure of biological molecules and see how they’re built. Not only could this give us more detail on the biological blueprints we already know but it could also show structures that have been a mystery up until now. Understanding them could pave the way for new treatments for various diseases; specifically Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and osteoporosis.
Biobank project now recruiting
The world’s biggest medical project, Biobank, will track half a million UK residents for several decades to discover how genetics and environment influence disease. The project, which has been criticised as a waste of time and money, will finally take off next year, once 500,000 volunteers have been recruited. People between the ages of 40 and 69 will be signed up to the study, which has been six years in preparation, costing £61 million. However, good or bad, it is a landmark study, so keep an eye out for any Biobank requests for volunteers popping through your letterbox.
Clever protiens destroy cancer
Nearly a third of all cancer treatments in development use antibodies, and some of these should be rolled out next year. These proteins of the immune system lock on to the cell they seek out and destroy it. Acting as programmed killers, these Terminator- like bodies destroy the cells they’re told to, leaving healthy cells untouched. Set to kill only cancerous cells, the antibodies could bypass the nasty side-effects of chemotherapy, which kills cancerous and healthy cells alike.
Gene genius set to foil the superbugs
Treatment-resistant superbugs such as MRSA have hit the headlines in a big way in 2006 but, this time next year, that could all change, with genetics stepping in to lend a hand.
Nasties such as MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant bacteria become immune to treatments by rapidly evolving, so that they carry genes that defend them. Discovering the sequence of the different building blocks of these genes — called bases — is vital to combat this.
This discovery process is now faster than ever and the next generation of machines, beginning to come online in the new year, will rapidly be able to sequence bacterial genes, discovering thesecret of their resistance to antibiotics and thwarting it.
Tumours get the hot-iron treatment
Magnetic fields and hot iron may not sound like the latest tools in cancer treatment, but scientists in Germany would beg to differ. When iron nanoparticles are injected near the site of a tumour, they seek out and attach themselves to cancerous cells. Exposing the patient to a changing magnetic field causes these nanoparticles to heat up, and as tumour cells are more sensitive to heat than healthy cells, they’re destroyed by the hot iron nanoparticles. Still in trials at the moment, this may enter healthcare in the new year.
Lose weight the natural way
With a record number of prescriptions for anti-obesity drugs in the past year, 2007 will see a boom in “natural satiety enhancers” to help you to lose weight. These compounds make you feel full, as drugs like Reductil do, but they’re made of substances such as natural oils and soluble fibre.
Unlike diet cures that rely on bulk, even small amounts of the new products, like the just launched Slimthru, can make you feel less hungry, research has found.
It works by lining the gut with palm and oat oil. Look out, too, for more food products that contain natural “satiety enhancers” that are claimed to reduce your hunger and keep you satisfied.
Caveman genes shed light on humans
We may realise how close we are to our caveman ancestors when the Neanderthal genome is published next year.
Comparing it with the human genome, and also the chimp genome, we will be able to trace our complete evolution. Scientists can thenidentify which of our genes are different from chimp and caveman, and understand the essence of being human.
Targeted health advertisements
Health officials have learnt from marketing types which of us will be most susceptible to adverts — and will be using similar techniques to sell us health education. “Social marketing” is the new buzzword at the Department of Health, and 2007 will see a barrage of targeted health education initiatives. By analysing where we shop, what cars we own and what illnesses we get by postcode, boffins will be able to pinpoint who needs to cut down on the chips, and which newspapers they should advertise in to reach us.
Advertisers aim to pick our brains
Advertisers will stop at almost nothing to find out what makes people tick and in 2007 they could take it to a whole new level. Using a process called brain fingerprinting, researchers at the company Brainwave Science can measure the brain’s true response to an advertisement. The Newspaper Marketing Agency was the first to use it over here; expect more companies to attempt to infiltrate our brains and make us buy stuff in 2007.
Stem-cell repair of spinal cords
Expect an exciting year in spinal cord repair. The Geron Corporation, based in America, is seeking approval for the first clinical trial using embryonic stem cells to repair human spinal cords, which would be conducted next year. By injecting the cells, which have the ability to turn into any cell of the body, they hope to replace damaged neurons.
Add to this work at University College London — where scientists believe that a cell from your nose, an olfactory ensheathing cell, can make the cells in the spinal cord regrow. In an area that can sometimes give false hope, next year could bring effective developments.
The healing power of silver
Using its healing and infection-fighting properties, Elastoplast has made a plaster with silver nanoparticles. Although the metal’s antibacterial properties have been known for thousands of years, it has been taken up with a vengeance by health product companies, who are adding silver nanoparticles to plasters and dressing. Scientists believe that components of the silver lethally disrupt enzymes in bacteria. Expect silver rush in the new year.
Faster way to treat depression
This coming year could see a drop in waiting times for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), the treatment of choice for anxiety and depression. Although available on the NHS, waiting lists can be up to four years. But two groundbreaking studies, which will suggest ways to get CBT out into the community, are to be published next year and could help cut waiting times. Already an extra 1,000 people have seen counsellors. And with online CBT due to hit us next year, getting treatment in future may be a lot easier.
Brain scan that can probe personality
Brain-scanning has moved on from simply looking for tumours and abnormalities — it can now explore the most intimate parts of our personality. Next year, more will be revealed about the human brain, especially about the way we relate to people. Understanding how the brain interprets the intentions, feelings, threats or challenges of people around us could help us to understand antisocial behaviour. Differences in psychopaths’ brains were found this past year and further investigations into the science behind criminality will come in 2007.
EXPERT PANEL
Simon Crompton, Medical Editor, Body&Soul
Colin Blakemore, Medical Research Council
Mark Walport, Wellcome Trust
Dr Stephen Minger, King’s College
Mark Henderson, Science Editor, The Times
Mark Morrison, Institute of Nanotechnology
Anna Bird, MIND, the mental healthy charity
