Decades worth of the genetic research helped create the treatments that finally cured my back.
Around the age of 15, I began experiencing periodic bolts of searing pain shooting down the outer sides of my legs and up through my shoulder blades. The pain would occasionally grow so debilitating that I was forced to walk with a cane and could barely manage a flight of stairs. For sleepless months at a time, I would limp and grimace through my day. The worst part was that doctor after doctor was not able to diagnose the problem, and I resigned myself to a life of making the best of it.
Once I hit my mid-30s, I couldn't take it anymore and decided I had to do something about it. I tasked myself to keep seeing doctors until somebody could tell me what the problem was. After plowing through a series of specialists, I eventually found my way to a rheumatologist who diagnosed me with an inflammatory condition, which isn't exactly fully understood by science, called Ankylosing spondylitis (spells just like it sounds).
Now, this condition can be treated somewhat with a special diet (please don't send me any info on the subjectI know), but the food restrictions are pretty harsh and results in my case weren't always consistent. But as it turns out, modern science has another fix.
My rheumatologist recommended that I begin a regimen of a type of medicine known as a biologic (or sometimes a "biopharmaceutical"), which is seeped directly from living organisms. I put a lot of trust in science and technology's ability to make the world a better place, so I was open to seeing what this cutting-edge treatment could do for me.
And I am happy to say that after a month or so, the treatments workedin fact, they worked far better than I could have possibly imagined. I've been almost totally pain-free for the past two years and even taken up running. (I should note that the medication I was on came with some serious potential side effectsmost notably, they decrease your body's immune system, including the ability to fight certain cancers. Just speaking for me, the trade-off was worth it.)
Now, this medication was unlike any other I had takenI had to inject it. Most second-generation biologics used to fight inflammatory conditions have to be introduced directly into the body through a syringe or via an IV. I had to learn to use a disposable epi-pen like contraption, which I keep stored in my refrigerator. There was a learning curve, but not a sharp one (and it certainly helped that I am not at all squeamish when it comes to needles).
So, what is this magic goop I inject into my body? It comes from natural sources, but at the same timethere's really anything natural about it.
Scientists have been deriving medicines from living organisms since foreverjust about every vaccine you've taken can be considered a biologic. However, the scope of these medicines have boomed in recent years with the advent of genetic-manipulation techniques.
While the exact definition of "biologic" varies from regulatory body to regulatory body, the term is often used today to refer to newer classes of drugs resulting from techniques that tweak cells at their fundamental genetic level to turn them into living factories.
According to the FDA's own description, "In contrast to most drugs that are chemically synthesized and their structure is known, most biologics are complex mixtures that are not easily identified or characterized." Many of these second-generation biologics (ones that have popped up in the past 15 years or so, as opposed the first-gen ones like vaccines) are not recreatableby humans. We just don't know how. However, scientists can use modern genetic-manipulation techniques to cajole living cell cultures to do it for them. Therein lies a wrinkle to the biologic storythey can be insanely expensive.
The manufacturing of these medicines is a complex undertakingparticularly on an industrial scale. Not only is there gene manipulation, but the cellular cultures are particularly susceptible to contamination and must be maintained under very aseptic and strictly temperature-controlled environmentsall of which must take place under the supervision of a highly trained workforce. When you consider that the patient pools are relatively small, prices inevitably rise.
I can only speak for myself and say that these drugs have been a godsend and truly improved my quality of life. But I'm also fascinated (and even humbled) to consider how this treatment would not be possible without decades of scientific inquiry that took place before it.
The line of scientific historydown through Darwin, Mendel, and the team of Watson & Crickhad no idea it would one day help a middle-aged tech blogger not have to limp in pain for months at a time. They all just wanted to know the answers to weird and impractical questions.
This is why I get annoyed when I hear politicians wanting to balance budgets on the backs of scientific research. While there are ways to best use research dollars, their benefit is invaluablejust not always immediately (quantum physics took decades to find a use in the function of smartphones, as it took years for Einstein's theories to be used in satellite configuration).
There is no way we can predict how the impractical research of today will affect some major breakthrough years down the line. That's why we should all want our tax dollars to fund inquiry into weird, unnecessary questions like "do gravitons exist?," "what does Pluto look like?," or "is the whole universe a hologram?" Answering those questions might not necessarily bring us a new breakthrough todayin fact, they probably won't. But they leave us with the promise that they will someday.
Evan Dashevsky is a features editor with PCMag and host of our live interview series The Convo. He can usually be found listening to blisteringly loud noises on his headphones while exploring the nexus between tech, culture, and politics. Follow his thought sneezes over on the Twitter (@haldash) and slightly more in-depth diatribin' over on the Facebook. More
Read more here:
How Genetic Engineering Fixed My Stupid Back - PCMag
- Main Show Only - Genetic Engineering - Coast to Coast AM - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- RTPB | Genetic Engineering [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Stop Monsanto From Poisoning Hawai'i: Genetic Engineering Chemical Warfare - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Informatics 161 PSA: Human Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Don't Trust Whole Foods or Other Health Food Stores For Non- GMO Foods | Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Easier Genetic Engineering! (Brainstorm Ep69) - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- TEDxUCIrvine - Francisco Ayala - Cloning, Genetic Engineering, [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Genetic Engineering in Agriculture - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Infowars Special Report : Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Glowing Rats and Extreme Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Endangered Cat Born at Audubon - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Danger of Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- AQA GCSE core science and B1 - Genetic Engineering - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- genetic engineering rDNA.wmv - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Genetic Engineering for Human Enhancement.mp4 - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Genetic Engineering - Seven Wonders of the Microbe World (6/7) - Video [Last Updated On: September 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 7th, 2012]
- Promising new drug target for inflammatory lung diseases [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2012]
- Mandatory GM Labeling Would Require Major Change [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2012]
- GEN reports on ocular therapeutics targeting the retina [Last Updated On: September 11th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 11th, 2012]
- Prop. 37: Another example of the perils of the initiative process [Last Updated On: September 15th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 15th, 2012]
- Genetic test predicts risk for Autism [Last Updated On: September 19th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 19th, 2012]
- Immediate withdrawal of unsafe GE corn vital - Greens [Last Updated On: September 20th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 20th, 2012]
- Immediate withdrawal of unsafe GE corn vital [Last Updated On: September 20th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 20th, 2012]
- NZ out of step on GE [Last Updated On: September 21st, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 21st, 2012]
- Ballot Watch: Labeling genetically engineered foods [Last Updated On: September 30th, 2012] [Originally Added On: September 30th, 2012]
- Just another GE mirage [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2012]
- The GM Barnyard [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- Free Engine [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- Cellectis Publishes Results Paving the Way for New Therapeutic Approaches against Cancer and Genetic Diseases [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- Does moral decision-making in video games mirror the real world? [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- Animals engineered with pinpoint accuracy [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2012]
- Valley farmers fear 'modified' wording in Prop. 37 [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2012]
- No on Proposition 37 [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2012]
- The Dangers of Genetic Engineering [Last Updated On: October 5th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 5th, 2012]
- Are inhaled medications effective and safe in critically ill patients on mechanical ventilation? [Last Updated On: October 5th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 5th, 2012]
- Calif. initiative will test appetite for GMO food [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2012]
- Calif. initiative will test appetite for GMO food - Sat, 06 Oct 2012 PST [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2012]
- California to vote on 'genetically modified' labels [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2012]
- California initiative will test appetite for genetically modified foods [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2012]
- Do we have an appetite for genetically modified food? [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2012]
- Genetic labelling mooted in California [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2012]
- California initiative to test appetite for 'genetically engineered' food [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2012]
- New tool for making genetic engineering of microbial circuits reliably predictable [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2012]
- Researchers develop new tool for making genetic engineering of microbial circuits reliably predictable [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2012]
- A Welcome Predictability [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2012]
- Engineered flies spill secret of seizures [Last Updated On: October 12th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 12th, 2012]
- Genetic 'remix' key to evolution of bee behavior, researchers find [Last Updated On: October 15th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 15th, 2012]
- Can vaccines be delivered via the lungs instead of by injection? [Last Updated On: October 15th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 15th, 2012]
- Food labeling regulations [Last Updated On: October 16th, 2012] [Originally Added On: October 16th, 2012]
- Research and Markets: Therapeutic Antibody Engineering: Current and Future Advances Driving the Strongest Growth Area ... [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Is there a difference between GE & GMO? [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Port Townsend Food Coop: A Sad Story of GMO Crop Cross Pollination - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- PUT IT IN YOUR MOUTH! Yes to Prop 37 — it's your right to know what's in your food! - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- editta braun company: planet LUVOS (clip, 4:30) - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Mimic: The Director's Cut (Blu-ray Trailer) - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- South Park Season 1 Episode 7 - An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Yes on Prop 37: Animated Video - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- The Day of the Triffids Part 1 Full Movie - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- YES on prop 37 "flashmob" march - Santa Cruz, CA Sept. 2012 - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- World's Weirdest Places Discussed - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- THE CLUB OF ROME - DEPOPULATION AGENDA 21 - THE UNHIVED MIND - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- 27-Medical BiotechnologySG Part II.Gene Therapy, Tissue Engineering and Nanotechnology.mov - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- 26-Medical BiotechnologySG Part Ic. Animal and Human Cloning and Genetic Engineering.mov - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- How to Clone Animals - Video [Last Updated On: November 2nd, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 2nd, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (Season 3 - The Day We Died) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (Season 3 - Olivia) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (Season 3 - Entrada) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (Season 4) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (Season 3) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (Season 2) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (1985) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Dendritic Cells: Biology And Clinical Applications - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Port Townsend Food Coop: "I want my food untainted by GMOs" - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Catholic Priest vs. Biologist - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Watch Real Life Superhero Muscles Like Marvel's The Avengers - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (Season 1) - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Fringe Opening sequence (The Final Season: "Fight For The Future") - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- Port Townsend Food Coop: I Want To Know If GMOs Are In My Food - Video [Last Updated On: November 4th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 4th, 2012]
- ProCognia jumps on expanded biosimilar collaboration [Last Updated On: November 7th, 2012] [Originally Added On: November 7th, 2012]