10 Top Australian Scientists Predict Major Medical Advances

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10 Top Australian Scientists Predict Major Medical Advances

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=53897

Within a decade Australians will be able to find out how good their

genes are at fighting disease, which environmental risks they are

susceptible to and steps they should take to prevent the onset of

ill-health. And by the turn of the century it will be commonplace to

have a bad combination of genes repaired to avoid disease.

'Then, Now-Imagine', a new report compiled by Research Australia in

consultation with 10 of the country's leading health and medical

researchers including two Nobel Prize winners and four Australians

of the Year, predicts individual gene profiling from blood samples

will revolutionise healthcare within ten years.

2006 Australian of the Year, Professor Ian Frazer, who discovered

the technology that led to the newly released cervical cancer

vaccine, said the upshot will be the ability to develop personalised

healthcare plans - a roadmap for health from the day of birth.

" Doctors will be able to predict what health problems we might get

so we can take appropriate precautions. They will also be able to

assess what treatments will work best on an individual basis to

achieve optimum health results. Long-term it will be possible to

avoid certain diseases altogether through gene therapy, " he said.

Sponsored by MBF, the report has been released by Research Australia

to commemorate " Thank You " Day (14 November 2006), Australians'

annual opportunity to send personal messages of appreciation to

medical researchers whose work is special to them via

http://www.thankyouday.org/. " Thank You " Day is held each year with

the support of the Macquarie Bank Foundation.

Five other key forecasts are:

* Growing new body parts

Further advances in understanding how 'blank' or 'uncoded' cells in

their very early stages of development switch on to become specific

types of cells, like liver, skin and nerve cells, mean cures for

diseases like Parkinson's, Diabetes and Multiple Sclerosis will be

entirely possible. With the right prompts these 'stem cells' - which

everybody has - can develop into organs and tissue to replaced

damaged areas.

* Smart drugs

As a result of DNA technology 'smart drugs' will increasingly be

used to target cancer at the source. Current chemotherapy attacks

all cells in the body with healthy ones recovering first. One of the

first smart drugs, Herceptin, binds to the surface of specific

breast cancer cells and slows their ability to reproduce. With

further research, more smart drugs with increasing power will be

available for all manner of cancers, reducing the trauma of

treatment and dramatically improving outcomes.

* A Raft of New Vaccines

The world-first cervical cancer vaccine is only the first of its

kind. Scientists predict viruses will be found to play a role in

many other cancers and in the course of the next few decades we can

expect a raft of new vaccines to prevent their onset.

Therapeutic vaccines are also well advanced in development and

involve re-educating the immune system to recognise cancer cells as

intruders and attack them.

And over the next few decades we are likely see vaccines for many

viral infections like HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, and for major

diseases like diabetes. In fact Melbourne's Diabetes Vaccine

Development Centre is about to start clinical trials for a new

vaccine for Type 1 Diabetes.

* Building New Nerve Pathways

Australian-invented bionic ears, or Cochlear implants, that allow

deaf children to hear will be further advanced to deliver high-

fidelity hearing, with a carbon tube built molecule by molecule

carrying the electricity needed to stimulate nerve cells.

This technology will also be applied to other disabilities. We will

be able to reconnect electrical wiring in damaged spinal columns,

stimulate nerve growth and allow messages to be relayed to the

brain. Further into the future, this could ultimately allow

quadriplegics and paraplegics to walk again. Other applications are

likely to include correcting the faulty circuits that create

epileptic episodes and creating transport systems for slow release

of insulin to diabetics.

* Operating before birth

Advances in microsurgery and the capacity of ultrasound to monitor

development will soon see unborn babies undergoing complex surgery

to correct abnormalities like holes in the heart and facial

malformations, strengthening their chances of survival and improving

their quality of life.

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You can download the full 'Then, Now-Imagine' Report from

http://www.thankyouday.org/. From 9 October until 17 November you

can also send you personal message of thanks to Australia's health

and medical researchers via the website or you can text it to

0428THANKS.