SISTEMA bio~SIGNA

On Genomes and Cells

-Today we'll l,take a quick look into an area of Medical Science called Metabolomics. The BioMedCentral site describes it as "the measurement of all the metabolites (small molecules produced by physiological processes, such as respiration and digestion) within a cell, tissue, organ or body." This is another hallmark in the understanding of the underlying workings of human disease. The technology is ready and scientists (both Medical and Bioinformatics) have the tools to dig deeper and come up with novel approaches in the treatment of an ever-expanding scenario of global epidemics (particularly obesity,the metabolic syndrome and accompanying maladies). While we may still be witnessing the infancy stages of this approach to Medical diagnosis and treatment, nevertheless, it is a huge leap forward. I am including here the source for your visit to this info on BioMed Central. Enjoy and Learn. As Einstein said, "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.."

-In another area of Bioinformatics technology, a new modelling method is being proposed. This time it's a fast method to describe the dynamics of tumor growth and metastasis formation. You can check this out on JCBi. This particular project employed an analytical solution for the size distribution of metastases of a hepatocellular carcinoma looking into the cascade of events of the metastatic process. This is quite a good tech to look into, considering that CA is most often subclinical. With the increasing discovery and utilization of biomarkers, it is hoped that more clinicians, clinical pathologists, and diagnostic laboratories will invest more time, effort and funds to invest in this burgeoning tool set. On a side note, this also means including the study of these methodologies in the biomedical school curriculum, and other more advanced training programs. We must understand that this is not hype! We're talking about not only saving lives, but also improving the QoL (quality of life) of our fellowman. And mind you, some of these may be ourselves, our family members and friends. We all know the struggles and grief of dealing with that!

-Fernando Yaakov Lalana, M.D.