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5 Biotech Trends in 2020

It’s apparent that discoveries surrounding AI and biotechnology are growing at a rapid pace.

Tej Kohli, leading entrepreneur and philanthropist predicts that AI applications will eventually be so broad and so essential for a better quality of life contributing three to four times more to global output than the Internet, which already accounts for around $50 trillion of the global economy.

Below are five biotech trends to watch this year! Some are more far-fetched than others, but it really is plain to see the dominance biotechnology will inevitably have upon our future.

Pig-to-Human Organ Transplant 

Although such concepts aggravate some ethical issues, this notion is certainly one to watch this year. Although we’re not likely to see the fruition of this come into play in 2020, we should be able to see further developments in the research surrounding the subject. According to an article by Singularity Hub, the process of engineering human replacement organs in other animals is however sparking interest.

Cross-species transplantation is a subject that brings an abundance of controversy and problems that must be addressed first, but it’s safe to say these theories are not completely absurd in this day and age.

New Trends in Gene and Cell Medicine 

First and foremost, in the most recent years, it is clear to see how much this industry has advanced. You only need to look at the time and cost it took a decade ago and compare it to a small fee and short time frame that we’re working with today when deciphering the human genome. We’ve seen advances in cancer and stem cell research, and it is looking like we’re about to see a boom in hyper-personalisation cell medicine.

The Production of Personalised Medicine

Recent scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements in the production of personalised medicine has altered the way we treat disease leading to the more precise, predictable and higher quality of health care, tailored to the needs of an individual patient. Healthcare professionals start to understand the benefits of not offering blanket remedies to treat patients with the same disease or illness, but rather recognise that each patient has different molecular make-up. The production of personalised medicine is sure to be explored this year.

An Improvement in the Approval Timeline of Various Drugs

Essential medications, particularly for the likes of cystic fibrosis sufferers, are at a standstill as a result of the long process of drug approvals by the FDA. However, should technology continue to advance at the same rate we’ve seen, this will improve the speed of drug testing and also the rate that controlled trials for candidate patients can occur. This is definitely a trend that we expect to be making headlines in 2020.

Utilising Robots to improve surgical methods

We started to see this in the later part of 2019 and we can expect this technology to advance throughout this year too, further improving surgical methods. Surgeons who use the robotic system have discovered that it is advantageous in more ways than one. It enhances precision, flexibility and control during the operation and allows them to perform delicate and complex procedures that may have been difficult and have a higher risk factor attached with more traditional methods.

We’re only a few weeks into 2020, but with new technological advances taking place every day, it will be interesting to see how these trends progress.

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