Session 6

Brief Overview/Summary

The sixth TWC lesson was about Biobusiness Revolution, notably in the areas of healthcare and biomedical in the past, present and the future.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

Prof Shahi started the lesson by sharing a few interesting quotes. The first one is from Albert Einstein, which stated

“There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

This quote talks about how we humans have the choice to how we can lead our lives. We can live jaded, not caring or ‘giving a damn’ about what happens around our environment. However, with such a mindset, we will never learn and understand the changes that happen around us. However, if we choose to live our lives with an open mindset and be interested in changes in our environment, we can gain much knowledge. This is also very related to the “Rising Star” vs “Falling Star” mindset that Prof shared a few weeks earlier.

The next quote that Prof shared is a Greek Proverb that says

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose
shade they know they shall never sit in.”

This quote explains the need for future orientation, which requires people today to plan for the future. However, this quote does not talk about sustainable development. Instead, this quote tells us that if we plan ahead, we are helping to ensure the sustainability of our society.

Prof Shahi then defined BioBusiness as a commercial activity based on an understanding of life sciences and its processes, such as biomedical, agri-veterinary, environmental/industrial, and other areas. The BioBusiness industry already constitutes over 25% of global GDP and employs some 40% of the world’s labor force. With these shocking statistics which is not known to many, it must be understood that these numbers will continue to increase as the BioBusiness and biotechnology industry expands.

Prof then showed us a video illustrating Microsoft’s vision for the future of healthcare. In this video, Microsoft introduced the digital wallet, which combines all of a person’s cards into their smartphone. It also showed the ability for patients to be able to speak to their doctors on broadband and thus, it is unnecessary for them to physically travel to the clinic or hospitals.  This can benefit patients who are old, or have difficulty travelling and walking. People can also save on transportation fee. With tele-consultation, doctors can understand a patient’s situation by simply asking the patient to perform certain tasks and the doctor can capture it through the webcam. With e-banking, doctors can also legitimately charge the patient for online consultation fees.

Prof also introduced the different drivers for innovation and change in biomedical sciences

1)   Demographic and Epidemiological Change

As countries advance from rural to urban, or see the growth of an aging population, or population increases, they can see the changing patterns of disease, shifting from infectious to chronic diseases. Infectious diseases arise from poor water supply and sanitation, generally low and poor living standards. On the other hand, chronic diseases tend to arise as people age. Examples of chronic diseases are such as diabetes, high blood pressure or heart problems.

25 years ago, 60% of diseases in the world were infectious diseases. Thanks to the growth of the Millennium Development Goals and decreasing rates of poverty around the world, we now see a more drastic pattern change in diseases from infectious to chronic.

2)   Translating the Findings of R&D into Clinical and Commercial Application

New technology today has helped people capture possibilities and research that was not possible before. They are such as the advancement of X-rays to CT scans, and imaging technology for people that is not radioactive. These are results of biomedical research translated into practical uses.

3)   Advances in Information and Bioengineering Technology

With the birth of computer and information systems, making comparisons is now a much simpler process than before. This progress can be attributed to the availability of advanced tools and resources to help analyze, model and create new technologies for development in the research and health services level. With bioengineering technology, it is able to lead to advancement in genetic engineering, which is crucial for the advancement in eugenics.

4)   Changing Consumer Needs, Demand and Expectation

Around the world, people’s expectations change as society changes. People today are wealthier than before, causing lifestyle and dietary patterns to change. With this, people are able to gain certain benefits, but at the same time suffer some consequences.

Prof showed us a video about how obesity is becoming a global pandemic, which allowed us to have a sense of how big a problem it has become. According to the video, in Mexico, 7% of adults and 30% of children are overweight.  Also, WHO has predicted that by 2015, 2.3 billion people will be overweight, 700 million people will be obese, and 22 million children will be overweight.

With these statistics, peoples’ changing consumer needs and demands has made obesity a global pandemic, which requires medical intervention to reduce the causes and impacts of such problems. Without medical intervention, such pandemics such as obesity can lead to an unsustainable society, where future generations will not be able to lead lives as long as previous generations have.

After which, Prof also introduced and discussed the different sectors in healthcare and biomedical sciences, which have revolutionized in the previous years, and will continue to revolutionize in the years to come. The case study of the advancement of prosthetics to bionics also gave me a new, fresh and interesting perspective to the history and future of prosthetics, which is closely related to my group project.

One of the class presentations that impressed me was Rebekah’s presentation on gene sequencing. She introduced the benefits, limitations, response and concerns from different groups of people regarding this new technology. According to Rebekah’s research, doctors can now recognize disease-causing genes in 25 hours upon birth of a child. However, such information may be rendered useless and merely informative as with 7500 known diseases, only 3500 are detectable, and only 500 of such diseases have treatment. Gene sequencing is also very costly, which exacerbates income inequality as only the rich can afford such technology, and the poor is excluded.

However, the key argument is whether parents would like to purchase such technology for their newborn child. Firstly, the knowledge of a child’s disposition will cause an impact on the child’s lifestyle, whereby his/her parents will restrict him/her to participate in activities that may aggravate their dispositions. For example, if a child has a disposition for heart disease, the child’s parents may impede him/her from participating in many forms of physical activities, thus limiting the child’s true potential in sports.

At the same time, such dispositions are merely calculations of chances of getting the illness. There is still a chance whereby the child will not be diagnosed with this disease or sickness predicted when he/she was born. Parents’ reaction to their child’s disposition is therefore highly crucial. Therefore, the knowledge of a child’s disposition should merely be used for parents and child to be mentally prepared for future illnesses, rather than restricting one’s personal abilities.  

Key Takeaways

1)   The BioBusiness is a growing industry that will soon many up a large proportion of a country’s GDP and labor force.

2)   The change in peoples’ consumption and demand will lead the way for changes growth of the biomedical business as the biomedical industry will meet the needs for demanded areas, such as obesity.

3)   The future of the biomedical industry is very optimistic, as it aims to simplify medical processes through research and development.

4)   The growth of the biomedical industry may in turn also be harmful to people in areas such as personal growth and unnecessary knowledge.

Issues for Further Discussion

1)   How long will it take for the biomedical industry to advance to the stage illustrated in the video by Microsoft?

2)   Is tele-consultation really useful or necessary? Or does it make a practitioner less accurate or precise in his findings?

Personal Ratings

I rate this class 8/10 as it looks into future findings in the medical industry, which is a large concern in all our futures. However, I feel that there should be more discussions pertaining to how these biomedical advancements can benefit the elderly given that Singapore is facing an aging population today.