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Latest Biochemistry Techniques that are popular in medical field

Biochemistry is rapidly expanding, becoming one of the most influential areas for science. Combining the core tenets of biology and chemistry, the field plays a huge role in the development for the novel new scientific approaches.

Medical science cannot really exist without biochemistry

The scientific breakthroughs made by biochemists, we would not have the precise chemical knowledge to create the vital drugs, therapies and diagnostic tools that are used for each and every day.

Much and more like medical science itself; biochemistry is the vast area of research that yields profound discoveries for annually. Biochemical techniques advance our understanding for the chemical structures or processes that underpin human health or disease, revealing the underlying transformations between these two physiological states.

The implications for uncovering the causes of pathologies for the cellular level are huge. By being able to call on the working knowledge of biochemistry and other related disciplines including molecular biology or immunology, those working in medical science have the potential to transform global healthcare.

With the increase of public health threats including air pollution and climate change, antimicrobial resistance, non-communicable diseases or dengue, the research of biochemists is needed more than ever. 

Biochemistry

Biochemistry is the field of science that broaches the two traditional disciplines of biology and chemistry. If chemistry is the science of matter, then biochemistry is the science of living matter.

Practitioners for biochemistry study the biochemical reactions that occur at the molecular level within living organisms. In medical biochemistry (also called as molecular biology), biochemical techniques are applied for the human health or disease. The typical scope of medical biochemistry can encompass as following as:

• The chemical components of the human body: also including carbohydrates and lipids; amino acids and proteins; blood and plasma; biological membranes; nucleic acids (DNA/RNA)
• The major chemical processes in the human body: including cell development; membrane transport mechanisms; enzyme activity; homeostasis; oxygen transport; blood coagulation (clotting); neurotransmitter function; ageing.
• Nutrition and mineral metabolism: also including role and function of vitamins in the body
• Molecular genetics
• Heredity
• Genomics

Much of biochemical inquiry deals with the structures, functions or interactions of biological macromolecules, large molecules (like proteins) which provide the structure for cells and perform some of the functions associated with life. The chemistry of the cell also depends on the reactions for smaller molecules and ions. These molecules can be organic (for instance: the amino acids that are used to synthesize proteins) and inorganic (for instance: water or metal ions). Medicine is just one area that has benefited from biochemistry. The discipline has made vital contributions for the fields that including cell biology, pathology, pharmacology, physiology, microbiology, nutrition, forensic medicine, immunology, and toxicology, as well as the fields of inflammation, cell injury, or cancer. Aside from medicine, biochemical research is also applied for the industry, agriculture or food production. When taking for all these applications into consideration, it is clear that biochemistry is far from a single, monolithic discipline.

What does a biochemist do?

For every day, biochemists typically carry out the research projects, manage laboratory teams, prepare technical reports and present research findings to scientists and key stakeholders.By using electron microscopes, lasers and state-of-the-art laboratory instruments, they conduct experiments by DNA, analyzing enzymes, and other molecules. These laboratory experiments cover the range of subjects, from extracting cell samples from plants or animals and the genetic research to developing effective new medicines for the pharmaceutical industry. Once complete, the results are then analyzed in an office environment by using advanced data modeling software. Working in scientist’s teams alongside experts from other scientific fields, biochemists are predominantly employed across the life sciences sector (such as pharmaceuticals, food technology, and biotech, toxicology, and vaccine production). They are also frequently employed in research roles in academic or government institutions.

What impact has biochemical research had on medical science?

Ever since Eduard Buchner’s 1897 discovery that a cell-free extract of yeast can ferment sugar (widely considered to be the birth of biochemistry), biochemistry has enjoyed an intimate relationship with the medicine, illuminating many aspects of human health and diseases. For anyone working in medicine and related field, accruing sufficient biochemical knowledge is needed for order to properly understand the metabolism, function and growth of a healthy human body.

In physiology, the study of body function, biochemistry has broadened our understanding of how biochemical changes relate to physiological alteration in the body. It helps us understand the chemical aspects of biological processes including digestion, hormonal action, and muscle contraction-relaxation. In pathology, the study of how aberrant biochemistry relates to disease conditions in the human body, physicians can use biochemical analysis to confirm predictions based on patient testimony.

For instance, if a patient complains of sudden, severe pain in one or more joints, the physician may predict the problem to be gout, a form of arthritis caused by an excess of uric acid in the bloodstream. By measuring uric acid levels, biochemistry can then confirm whether gout is the root of the problem.

All diseases have a molecular basis, so biochemistry enables us to understand the chemical processes involved in conditions as varied as:

• diabetes
• hyperammonemia, hypo- and hyperthyroidism
• hypo- and hyperparathyroidism
• kidney dysfunction
• jaundice
• hypercholesterolemia
• phenylketonuria
• sickle cell anaemia
• dental fluorosis
• rickets
• atherosclerosis
• acidosis and alkalosis
• lysosomal storage diseases

With information gleaned from the chemical nature of pathologies, biochemists working in medicine are able to investigate potential treatments for the diseases. The action of a drug almost always involves some change in the biochemical processes taking place in the body. The pharmacologists must also be acquainted with the biochemical aspects of the human body. In pharmacy, biochemical testing provides indispensable insights into a drug’s:

• mode of action
• half-life
• storage conditions
• metabolism
• potential toxic or adverse effects

Biochemistry is also the sole field that accurately describes the function and role of vitamins in the body. With millions of people taking daily vitamins and mineral supplements, the ongoing discoveries made my biochemists will continue to exert a huge impact on the field of nutritional deficiency.

The biochemistry is hard to quantify. From lab-grown placentas that “will transform pregnancy research” to new drugs that wipe out antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the trailblazing work of biochemists continues to expand the horizons for medical science.

What does the future hold for biochemistry?

In genomics: the study of an organism’s complete set of DNA is one related field for biochemistry that carries long-term implications for drug development and clinical workflows. Genome sequencing, for instance, is causing a ‘revolution’ in early diagnosis - a breakthrough that could fast-track the development for vital new treatments the range of health conditions.And with biochemical research being augmented by rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the ability to quickly or efficiently analyse vast pools of data enables scientists to chart previously unexplored areas for biochemistry. Its central role in the life sciences as a sustainable way to solve a myriad of science, health or industrial problems, employment opportunities in biochemistry are expected to skyrocket in the next decade.