Innovation trends to watch in the life sciences

Gene technology leads life science innovation

In 2022, research on the immune escape mechanism of the novel coronavirus mutant strain, the mapping of the translation group of the early human embryo and the activation factors of the zygotic genome, high-precision mapping of the space-time gene expression of life panorama, subversive gene decoding technology, and the molecular mechanism of autophagy initiation in multicellular organisms were selected as the top 10 Advances in life Sciences in China. Let the world see the fruitful results of China's life science research.

Recently, MIT Technology Review announced the "top 10 global breakthrough technologies" in 2023, the life science field holds three spots, respectively, gene editing technology for high cholesterol, on-demand organ production and ancient DNA analysis.

The CRISPR gene editing technology will reach an exciting turning point in 2022, with the potential to expand the scope of the technology's treatment from rare genetic diseases to other common diseases such as high blood pressure. On the basis of CRISPR, single-base editing can accurately edit genes without cutting the double strand of DNA. Lead editing not only converts any base to another, but also inserts DNA fragments into the genome precisely, making it possible to replace disease-causing genes. After evaluating enough clinical data, these innovative gene editing technologies will greatly expand the scope of gene editing for treating diseases.

In 2022, the world's first patient who received a pig heart transplant died 2 months later, and a cell therapy company conducted clinical trials to grow a mini liver that can perform the same function in the human body. Scientists are drawing lessons from such operations and experiments to improve the success rate of xenotransplantation and to build complex tissues and organs from human cells. In the future, organoids that can simulate the function of specific human organs will largely solve the problem of organ transplant shortage.

Today, ancient DNA analysis techniques have matured. With the development of more innovative and cost-effective sequencing technologies, deciphering damaged DNA is no longer difficult. In 2022, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded in the field of Rogoku genetics. Dr. Svante Paabo extracted DNA from bone samples of extinct humans, and the evolutionary tree shows the relationship between Homo sapiens and these extinct hominins. The enlightenment brought by ancient DNA has rewritten our understanding of history. Through this technology, the genetic information of ancient humans can be mined and combined with modern molecular biology technology, we can better understand the impact of human evolution on our current human health.

In addition, the use of AI to predict protein structure to help drug development will also achieve substantial results in 2023. In July last year, artificial intelligence company DeepMind announced that it had cracked almost all known protein structures, and the database built by its AlphaFold algorithm now contains more than 200 million known protein structures, which has become a powerful tool for new drug development. At present, hundreds of startups are exploring ways to use artificial intelligence to accelerate drug discovery, DeepMind will launch some blockbuster biotechnology in 2023, and the preliminary results of clinical trials of AI pharmaceuticals are expected to be shown to the world in 2023. It may be a few years before we see AI-assisted drugs hit the market.

Four clinical therapies are worth looking forward to

While revolutionary discoveries are unpredictable, it is possible to predict which ongoing projects will reach new heights in the coming months. In the field of biomedical research, several clinical trials due to be completed by 2023 promise advances in the treatment of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and obesity.

In 2013, a new generation of cancer immunotherapy drugs rose to the top of the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of the year. Unlike chemotherapy and radiation, which directly attack cancer cells, immunotherapy aims to boost the body's normal immune system's ability to fight tumors. In recent years, the immunotherapy community has born PD-1/PD-L1, CAR-T, non-specific immune stimulation, oncolytic virus and other explosive products. A decade after the advent of immunotherapy drugs, the field of cancer immunotherapy is in full bloom. Clinical trial results expected in 2023 will increase the number of patients who can benefit from immunotherapy. Progress this year is expected to extend beyond immunotherapy drugs to vaccines and cell therapies.

On January 6, the FDA approved Lecanemab, a monoclonal antibody against amyloid beta, jointly developed by Eisai and Bojian as a treatment for Alzheimer's disease (AD). At the end of last year, Lilly announced positive data from a phase III clinical trial of donanemab, a monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid beta: After six months of treatment, donanemab reduced amyloid plaque levels in the brains of early-stage Alzheimer's patients by 65.2 percent compared to baseline, compared to 17.0 percent in the active control group. This suggests that amyloid-beta mab is able to quickly and effectively alter the biology of Alzheimer's disease in the early stages of treatment. In 2023, more clinical trial data on AD drugs will shed light on the expected effects of beta-amyloid inhibitors.