A. Jain –

The healthcare and medicine sector is one of the important sectors known to man. Hence it is not surprising that a lot of research work is being done in these areas to further push the boundaries of human health and disease free existence. In the last 50 years alone, the life expectancy has been increased by at least 10 years on a global level. In the developed countries, like the USA, the scientists are on a roll and many unprecedented breakthroughs are expected in the field of medicine in the near future, few of which will be discussed in this article.

Nowadays, the smart phones existing in the market are sophisticated to even take care of our medical needs. Many applications are being developed that measure our heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and other body vitals at regular intervals and store it for future use. And all this is possible through your mobile phone itself. In case of any aberration, immediately an alert would be sounded to your physician who will then take over and advise you accordingly. There might even be some add on devices which could be used to measure our ECG readings right from the comfort of our homes and transmit them to our physician via internet.

Regenerative medicine is moving from strengths to strengths. It is basically the process living and functional tissues which can be used to repair or replace a non-functioning tissue or organs. Scientists are trying to regenerate damaged tissues and organs by the use of this technology by stimulating healing. In addition, there is also some work being done to generate tissues and organs in the laboratory itself and then implant them in the body of the patient. If successful, this technology has the potential to solve many issues such as the shortage of organ donors.

Scientists are predicting that artificial wombs are going to be in vogue after a couple of decades. These are nothing but some means to grow a human embryo outside the female body. The research is still not in advanced stages but already some scientists at Cornell University have been able to grow mice embryos in artificial, man-made wombs. When in operation, it could be a blessing for parents who previously could not bear children. On top of that, it can also save mothers from the stress and anxiety involved in childbirth. But it will also bring a set of ethical and moral questions, which will require some thought. The controversies would include the implications of such a technology as well as any side effects, which might appear in the form of a stunted growth in the child. These issues will need to be resolved before going out in the open with this thing.

Apart from these, there are many other scientific marvels, which are waiting on the horizon. Pharmacogenomics is studying the effects of a drug on an individual’s body due to his genetic inheritance. One day, this can result in drugs being tailor made for every individual. Then there are pills or capsules being developed which will disintegrate in the body at the exact place where they are supposed to, based on the acidity of the internal organs. They will also be armed with sensors and processors, which will capture the body vitals and send the reports over to your computer. So a disease free human existence might actually be a real possibility if the scientists and researchers continue their good work.