Opportunities in Biotechnology for Future Army Applications (2001) / Chapter Skim
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7. Soldier Health and Performance
7. Soldier Health and Performance
Pages 59-72
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From page 59... ...
This chapter examines developments in therapeutics and genomics that are expected to be important to the Army as a whole, as well as to individual soldiers. Based on current trends, vaccines and therapies will soon be tailored to suit individual soldiers.
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From page 60... ...
In other words, by 2025, comparisons of complete DNA sequences between individuals and reference sequences may have become routine. At the moment, although it is not economically feasible to determine complete sequences of human individuals, it is possible to identify differences among DNA sequences by a
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From page 61... ...
SNPs and other genetic markers have advantages over phenotypic markers because it is easier to identify many different markers in DNA from two different individuals than to determine an equivalent number of genetically determined phenotypic traits, such as eye or hair color. The Army commonly uses DNA as an aid in the identification of soldier remains; in the future it may become possible to use distinguishing characteristics of DNA as a biometric for secure access (e.g., to identify conclusively soldiers authorized to use classified information)
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From page 62... ...
Most vaccinations can cause adverse effects in small numbers of people receiving the vaccine. Anxiety about adverse effects to single vaccine (for example, those that occurred during the swine flu vaccination program in the 1970s)
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From page 63... ...
Prediction and Enhancement of Soldier Performance Combat effectiveness can be increased by enhancing the performance of individual soldiers. Because genomics information offers clues to improving human performance, it could provide the Army with means of increasing combat effectiveness.
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From page 64... ...
These include the use of combined genomic information with modern chemistry to generate new drugs and the use of many kinds of genomic information to streamline testing in animals and humans. Therefore, if the military wishes to realize the promise of enhanced performance that advances in biology, genomics, and chemistry can provide, it will have to make common cause with the other constituencies trying to reduce the time and lower the cost of drug development.
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From page 65... ...
The Army should be very interested in developing smallmolecule drugs for indications other than infectious diseases, such as drugs to ameliorate shock caused by blood loss. As sequencing and structural information on all proteins becomes available, the discovery and design of small-molecule compounds that interact with specific novel targets will improve.
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From page 66... ...
Given the rapid developments in chemistry and computational structural biology, it may become possible in this decade for the Army itself to identify the most important compounds in some cases. Closer interaction with the commercial sector might enable the Army to make better use of existing compounds.
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From page 67... ...
This database could also be extended to include other key upstream and downstream aspects of the pharmaceutical industry, such as the status of clinical trials. Examples of Army-lnclustry Cooperation Recently, DOD was able to leverage commercial development by gaining FDA approval to use ciprofloxacin (CIPRO@)
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From page 68... ...
OPPORTUNITIES IN BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR FUTURE ARMY APPLICATIONS could be used to deliver insulin and health-promoting drugs, as well as performance-enhancing drugs or threat-mitigating drugs on demand. Several approaches to the delivery of therapeutic molecules have led to currently available pharmaceutical products.
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From page 69... ...
In this way, the biocapsule would become an implantable drug factory that could deliver performance-enhancing or therapeutic molecules for desired time periods. The concurrent development of a fundamental understanding of cellular biology may interface with, and eventually supplant, such technology platforms, although it is difficult to predict exactly how.
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From page 70... ...
Somatic Gene Therapy As an Alternative to Implanted Devices By 2025, it is likely that somatic gene therapy will be developed to the point that it can be used to direct the synthesis of protein therapeutics in individual soldiers, thus obviating the need for implantable devices. For example, gene therapy agents could be transfected into cells by bombarding a patch of skin with DNA-coated pellets from a gene gun.
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From page 71... ...
Despite the lack of a definitive biological explanation for the association of the swine flu vaccine and GBS, there was strong evidence of a causal relationship, which led to millions of dollars in lawsuits (Laitin and Pelletier, 1997~. The result of this incident was a decrease in public confidence in vaccination programs and a dampening of the enthusiasm of the pharmaceutical industry to develop vaccines.
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From page 72... ...
The Army should build on its strengths in vaccine development and fund new technological approaches, including genomics developments, DNA vaccines, cell-based vaccines, and monoclonal antibodies. It should also explore using transgenics to shorten the clinical-trial phase for defining toxicity and using pharmacogenomics to shorten the time for Phase III clinical trials, which involve large populations and are difficult, expensive, and prolonged.
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