These are exciting times for biology.
Since many organisms share a common evolutionary history with humans and hence common features and systems, the basic end of medical research these days shades into basic biology.
The great challenge and opportunity for biological science as we move into the 21st century is to understand biological systems in all their complexity while preserving and exploiting biological systems in a sustainable fashion. The tools for dealing with this complexity will require the adaptation and application of emerging technologies.
Among the many new tools that are or will be needed, some of those having highest priority are:
• Bioinformatics
• Computational biology
• Functional imaging tools using biosensors and biomarkers
• Transformation and transient expression technologies
• Nanotechnologies
Biology is at a crossroads. The biological sciences have lagged other sciences such as physics and chemistry in the large-scale application of advanced technology to research problems. Over the past 20 years, however, technology has increasingly demonstrated its potential to catalyze revolutionary breakthroughs in the biological sciences.
Areas tackled in the most fundamental parts of medical research include cellular and molecular biology, medical genetics, immunology, neuroscience and psychology.
The increased longevity of humans over the past century can be significantly attributed to advances resulting from medical research. Among the major benefits of medical research have been vaccines for measles and polio, insulin treatment for diabetes, classes of antibiotics for treating a host of maladies, medication for high blood pressure, improved treatments for AIDS, statins and other treatments for atherosclerosis, new surgical techniques such as microsurgery, and increasingly successful treatments for cancer. New, beneficial tests and treatments are expected as a result of the Human Genome Project. Many challenges remain, however, including the appearance of antibiotic resistance and the obesity epidemic.