National Academies Press: OpenBook

Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress (2022)

Chapter: BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

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Suggested Citation:"BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
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BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

“What started as a curiosity-driven, fundamental discovery project has now become the breakthrough strategy used by countless researchers working to help improve the human condition.”

—Jennifer Doudna, Winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and NAM/NAS Member

Suggested Citation:"BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
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Opposite page: Depiction of gene-editing technology (iStock®)

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Digitally enhanced 3D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of a normal human brain (Science Photo Library®)

Neuroscience and Neurological Diseases

Treatment for Parkinson’s Disease

A “GPS” in the Brain

Role of the Brain in Hormone Regulation

Discovery of Opioid Receptors in the Brain

Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease

Mapping the Olfactory System

Navigating Neuroplasticity

Diagnosing Huntington’s Disease

Gene Therapy for Infants

Three-Dimensional Mapping of the Brain

Genomics and Gene Regulation

An Unexpected Origin of Cancer

“Seeker” Cells

Reading Biological Blueprints

The Beginnings of Biotechnology

Tapping the Potential of DNA Replication

Sequencing the Human Genome

The First Cloned Animal

A Revolutionary Advance in Gene Editing

Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing

Patenting DNA

Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation

Differentiating Self from Non-Self

Understanding the Vast Diversity of Antibodies

Infectious Proteins

Two Types of Immune Help

Recognizing Microbial Invaders

Triggering the Death of Cancer Cells

A Cell That Kills Other Cells

Engineering the Immune System to Defeat Cancer

Adoptive Cell Transfer to Treat Cancer

Metabolism and Bioenergetics

Understanding Photosynthesis

A Multifaceted Regulatory Mechanism

The Formation of Adenosine Triphosphate

Rapid-Effect Steroid Hormones

Expanding the Reach of Newborn Screening

Cancer-Causing Metabolites

The Progression of Multifactorial Disorders

Diagnostics, Therapeutics, and Imaging

3D Imaging Through X-Ray Slices

Advanced Drug Delivery Systems

The Origins of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Increasingly Specific and Sensitive Imaging

The First Baby Conceived in a Laboratory

The First Artificial Heart

A Bridge to Heart Transplantation

Robotic Assistance in Surgery

Watching the Brain Function

Reprogramming Human Body Cells

RNA Vaccines

Scientific and Medical Ethics

Research Misconduct Exposed in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study

After Tuskegee: Putting Human Subjects Research Guidelines in Place

The Birth of Clinical Medical Ethics

Bolstering Regulation of Research

Fabrication, Falsification, or Plagiarism of Research

Preventing Data Suppression in Clinical Trials

Added Oversight for Potentially Harmful Research

The Origin of HeLa Cells

Addressing Structural Racism and Health Inequities

#MeToo and #TimesUp in Science and Medicine

Genetically Modified Babies in China

Suggested Citation:"BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
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Page 4
Suggested Citation:"BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY." National Academy of Medicine. 2022. Transforming Human Health: Celebrating 50 Years of Discovery and Progress. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/26722.
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The past half-century has been an era of astonishing progress for biomedical science, health, and health care in the United States and worldwide. This volume, commissioned to mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine (NAM; formerly the Institute of Medicine [IOM]), tells the story of that progress across five major fields: biomedical science and technology, diseases and conditions, public health, U.S. health care, and global health. Since the NAM was founded in 1970, the nation and the world have seen multitudes of remarkable "firsts"—including the dawn of targeted gene therapies, the near eradication of polio, revolutionary treatments for cancers and cardiovascular disease, and many more. NAM members were the architects of many of these breakthroughs, alongside countless dedicated scientists, clinicians, educators, and public health leaders worldwide. The milestones chronicled in this volume are a testament to their remarkable work, which has saved and improved innumerable lives.

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