European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

REVIEW ON RECENT ADVANCES AND APPLICATIONS OF MEDICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL BIOTECHNOLOGY

K. Malleswari*, Dr. D. Rama Brahma Reddy, I. Ragakshara, J. Tesjaswini and K. Ramyasri

ABSTRACT

The field of medical biotechnology is experiencing rapid growth in recent years, leading to the development of several innovative techniques for preventing, diagnosing, and treating diseases. Novel methodologies, including polymerase chain reaction, gene sequencing, fluorescence in situ hybridization, microarrays, cell culture, gene silencing using interference RNA, and genome editing, have significantly contributed towards improving health science, such as the sequencing of the human genome, use of stem cells for regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, development of antibiotics, and the generation of monoclonal antibodies for therapy. This chapter will summarize and update important techniques used and the products generated using these tools in the field of medical biotechnology. If the current growth rate continues, medical biotechnology will soon become a major pillar of health science. Pharmaceutical biotechnology is a branch of biomedical sciences that uses novel technologies for production, formulation, and synthesis of biological substances from the living organisms, which act as drug molecules for the treatment and/or prevention of various diseases and/or syndromes. Pharmaceutical biotechnology has a major role in drug discovery and development for the understanding of many diseases and their novel treatment strategies and therapeutic interventions. In this chapter, we have described in detail the modern concepts of different branches of biotechnology in relation to their role in drug discovery and development. Moreover, we have also discussed the different techniques, including gel electrophoresis, western blotting, polymerase chain reaction, molecular cloning tissue culture, microarrays, deoxyribonucleic acid sequencing, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that are frequently used during the process of drug development. We have also comprehensively described the new emerging drug classes such as monoclonal antibodies, small drug molecules, protein drugs, therapeutic hormones and enzymes, cytokines, and antisense drugs that are biotechnologically derived from the genetically modified organisms.

Keywords: Medical biotechnology: Gene therapy, Vaccines, Stem cell therapy, Diagnostic tools Pharmaceutical biotechnology: Monoclonal antibodies, Recombinant proteins, Biosimilars.