Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine) is a branch of medical science that applies biological and physiological principles to clinical practice. Biomedicine stresses standardized, evidence-based treatment validated through biological research, with treatment administered via formally trained doctors, nurses, and other such licensed practitioners.
Biomedicine also can relate to many other categories in health and biological related fields. It has been the dominant system of medicine in the Western world for more than a century.
It includes many biomedical disciplines and areas of specialty that typically contain the "bio-" prefix such as molecular biology, biochemistry, biotechnology, cell biology, embryology, nanobiotechnology, biological engineering, laboratory medical biology, cytogenetics, genetics, gene therapy, bioinformatics, biostatistics, systems biology, neuroscience, microbiology, virology, immunology, parasitology, physiology, pathology, anatomy, toxicology, and many others that generally concern life sciences as applied to medicine.
Overview
Biomedicine is the cornerstone of modern health care and laboratory diagnostics. It concerns a wide range of scientific and technological approaches: from in vitro diagnostics to in vitro fertilisation, from the molecular mechanisms of cystic fibrosis to the population dynamics of the HIV virus, from the understanding of molecular interactions to the study of carcinogenesis, from a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) to gene therapy.
Biomedicine is based on molecular biology and combines all issues of developing molecular medicine into large-scale structural and functional relationships of the human genome, transcriptome, proteome, physiome and metabolome with the particular point of view of devising new technologies for prediction, diagnosis and therapy
Biomedicine involves the study of (patho-) physiological processes with methods from biology and physiology. Approaches range from understanding molecular interactions to the study of the consequences at the in vivo level. These processes are studied with the particular point of view of devising new strategies for diagnosis and therapy.
Depending on the severity of the disease, biomedicine pinpoints a
problem within a patient and fixes the problem through medical
intervention. Medicine focuses on curing diseases rather than improving
one's health.
In social sciences biomedicine is described somewhat differently.
Through an anthropological lens biomedicine extends beyond the realm of
biology and scientific facts; it is a socio-cultural
system which collectively represents reality. While biomedicine is
traditionally thought to have no bias due to the evidence-based
practices, Gaines & Davis-Floyd (2004) highlight that biomedicine
itself has a cultural basis and this is because biomedicine reflects the
norms and values of its creators.
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the process of synthesis and regulation of a
cell's DNA, RNA, and protein. Molecular biology consists of different
techniques including Polymerase chain reaction, Gel electrophoresis, and
macromolecule blotting to manipulate DNA.
Polymerase chain reaction is done by placing a mixture of the desired DNA, DNA polymerase, primers, and nucleotide bases
into a machine. The machine heats up and cools down at various
temperatures to break the hydrogen bonds binding the DNA and allows the
nucleotide bases to be added onto the two DNA templates after it has
been separated.
Gel electrophoresis
is a technique used to identify similar DNA between two unknown samples
of DNA. This process is done by first preparing an agarose gel. This
jelly-like sheet will have wells for DNA to be poured into. An electric
current is applied so that the DNA, which is negatively charged due to
its phosphate
groups is attracted to the positive electrode. Different rows of DNA
will move at different speeds because some DNA pieces are larger than
others. Thus if two DNA samples show a similar pattern on the gel
electrophoresis, one can tell that these DNA samples match.
Macromolecule blotting
is a process performed after gel electrophoresis. An alkaline solution
is prepared in a container. A sponge is placed into the solution and an
agaros gel is placed on top of the sponge. Next, nitrocellulose paper is
placed on top of the agarose gel and a paper towels are added on top of
the nitrocellulose paper to apply pressure. The alkaline solution is
drawn upwards towards the paper towel. During this process, the DNA
denatures in the alkaline solution and is carried upwards to the
nitrocellulose paper. The paper is then placed into a plastic bag and
filled with a solution full of the DNA fragments, called the probe,
found in the desired sample of DNA. The probes anneal to the
complementary DNA of the bands already found on the nitrocellulose
sample. Afterwards, probes are washed off and the only ones present are
the ones that have annealed to complementary DNA on the paper. Next the
paper is stuck onto an x ray film. The radioactivity of the probes
creates black bands on the film, called an autoradiograph. As a result,
only similar patterns of DNA to that of the probe are present on the
film. This allows us the compare similar DNA sequences of multiple DNA
samples. The overall process results in a precise reading of
similarities in both similar and different DNA sample.
Biochemistry
Biochemistry is the science of the chemical processes which takes
place within living organisms. Living organisms need essential elements
to survive, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, calcium,
and phosphorus. These elements make up the four big macromolecules that
living organisms need to survive- carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and
nucleic acids.
Carbohydrates, made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, are energy-storing molecules. The simplest one of carbohydrates is glucose, C6H12O6, is used in cellular respiration to produce ATP, adenosine triphosphate, which supplies cells with energy.
Proteins
are chains of amino acids that function to contract skeletal muscle,
function catalysts, transport molecules, and storage molecules. Proteins
can facilitate biochemical processes, by lowering the activation energy
of a reaction. Hemoglobins are also proteins, that carry oxygen to the
cells in an organisms body.
Lipids,
also known as fats, also serve to store energy, but in the long term.
Due to their unique structure, lipids provide more than twice the amount
of energy that carbohydrates do. Lipids can be used as insulation, as
it is present below the layer of skin in living organisms. Moreover,
lipids can be used in hormone production to maintain a healthy hormonal
balance and provide structure to your cell walls.
Nucleic acids
are used to store DNA in every living organism. The two types of
nucleic acids are DNA and RNA. DNA is the main genetic information
storing substance found oftentimes in the nucleus, which controls the
processes that the cell undergoes. DNA consists of two complementary
antiparallel strands consisting varying patterns of nucleotides. RNA is a
single strand of DNA, which is transcribed from DNA and used for DNA
translation, which is the process for making proteins out of RNA
sequences.
