Biotechnology as a Life Saver

• Introduction
  • Myocardial infarction
• Clotting
  • Activation Pathway (Figure 9.5)
  • Thrombin/Fibrin
  • Anti-coagulants
    • Heparin
    • Cumarin/Warfarin (Vitamin K antagonist)
    • Aspirin (acetylsalicilic acid)
    • Hirudin (from the leech) (Figure 9.6)
  • Dissolving clots
    • Plasminogen activators
      • t-PA (Figure 9.11)
      • Streptokinase
      • Urokinase
• Stroke
• Ischemic (clot)
  • Treatments
    • Thrombolytic t-PA
    • Desmoteplase (plasminogen activator from vampire bat) (Figure 9.8)
• Hemorrhagic (vessel rupture)
• Hemophilia
  • Factor VIII deficiency (80%)
    • Made in transgenic pigs
  • Factor IX deficiency (20%)
  • 60% tragically infected by donated blood
  • 24 pints required to get enough clotting
• Cancer
  • Benign
  • Malignant
    • Metastasis
  • Carcinomas (epithelial - skin gastric mucose, mammary glands, lungs)
  • Sarcomas (bones, muscles, cartilage)
  • Neoplasms (immune and blood cells)
  • Proto-oncogenes / oncogenes
  • Tumor-suppressor genes
    • p53 (Figure 9.16)
  • Apoptosis
  • Treatments
    • Radio-immunotherapy (RIT) (antibodies concentrate radioisotopes on tumor)
    • Chemotherapy
      • Gleevec -tyrosine kinase inhibitor - bcr-abl fusion - (Box 9.4)
    • Biotherapy
      • Interleukin-2
      • Monocolonal antibodies
        • Herceptin
      • Immunotoxins (antibodies carrying a toxin - for example, ricin - (Figure 9.20)
    • Taxol (Box 9.3) - stabilizes microtubules
      • Made in Pacific yew trees, fungi, and in the lab
• Other Biotechnology Health Products
  • Erythropoietin (EPO)
    • Growth factor for blood cells
  • GM-CSF (granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor)
  • Interferons - immune system stimulants (Box 9.2)
    • Requires 100,000 liters of human blood or 10 liters of bacterial culture
  • Interleukins
    • IL-2 promotes activity and growth of T-cells
  • Human growth hormone
  • Epidermal growth hormone - wrinkles (Figure 9.23)
  • Stem cells (Figure 9.25)
    • Embryonic stem cells - ability to become any cell type
      • Aging/telomerase
      • Problems with ethics, rejection, malignant growth
    • Adult stem cells
      • Lower developmental potential
      • Life-span limited
      • No problems with rejection if put back in same patient
  • Strategies
    • Gene Therapy (Figure 9.29)
      • Replacement of defective/missing genes (Figure 9.27)
      • Viral and other vectors
    • RNA Interference (Figure 9.31)
      • RNAi (mechanism name)
      • siRNAs (21-23 nucleotides long. 98% in junk DNA)