How Can The Government Use Biotechnology Improve Public Health?

Historically Ebola has had a serious impact on human health and hygiene and still does due to the fact of no vaccine or treatment being discovered, but thanks to improvements in scientific and medical knowledge the virus itself is now controllable.

The only available test in the United States would take five days to get results. If Duncan were to truly have Ebola, he did not have five days to wait. The test was approved but was still yet to yield any results. As the wait progressed, more symptoms started to arise, making the five days wait for the test all the more antagonizing. One night while a nurse was checking up on the patient, he admitted to helping a young pregnant woman to a hospital that was infected with the disease. The point of contact was now known. Shortly after the confession, Duncan’s blood work showed positive for Ebola. Doctors then needed a way to somehow cure the deadly pathogen and prevent this from spreading anywhere else. There are only four known ways to cure Ebola and they are all experimental. Due to his blood type, Duncan was not eligible for two of them. A drug called ZMapp, which is created in the United States - San Diego California - is not eligible for patient use (2) , so the only option is the fourth, which simply a pill. There are no certainties on any of the possible cures so doctors just had to

In “Patenting Life,” Michael Crichton argues that the government is mishandling the patenting office with the awarding of patents for human genes. Gene patenting is blocking the advancement of modern medicine and could be costing many patients their lives. The hold on research results in the discovery of fewer cures for modern diseases.

The Ebola virus was first discovered in the year 1976 in Africa. Since then, there have been

Humans are on a constant quest in the search for perfection and advancement in all areas of life through progressive scientific knowledge. From such a stance, the future of humans appears boundless with all the potential possibilities biotechnology provides, but such developments will cause ethical, social and biological implications.

After the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Africa, GSK and Newlink Genetics, who is partnered with Merck, came out with two different experimental vaccines for Ebola. Both vaccines were first used in Liberia; some patients received the GSK vaccine, others received the Newlink/Merck vaccine, and some who received a placebo. There is also an experimental drug called ZMapp, which is basically a cocktail of monoclonal antibodies made in tobacco plants. Two doctors who were infected with Ebola took ZMapp and were cured. The vaccines are now in the third and final stages of experimentation and development and so far, according to the phase 2 (or the second stage of experimentation), the vaccines appear

A nun working in Zaire, located in central Africa, treated infected victims and was infected with a disease displaying similar symptoms of Ebola Sudan. After her death, blood samples were examined and the diagnosis was Ebola Zaire, the most dangerous of the three stains. Gene Johnson was in charge of the operation of a monkey facility in Reston, Virginia. All of the monkeys of one room suddenly died, and the initial diagnosis was that of a small monkey virus. After further examination, researchers found that it was very similar to the Marburg Strain.

Technology has improved the human species by providing information around the world, leading to developments in different countries. Biotechnology is improving the world of medicine, agriculture, and energy production. In the medical world, technology has a big impact by helping scientists and doctors figure out how to fight off diseases and viruses. For example, there are two individuals, one who has malaria and the other has built up a resistance to malaria. Knowing that an individual has built up resistance to malaria can help, simply by taking a sample of their blood

In The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, Preston argues that Ebola is an unstoppable issue that man or the government cannot slow or eliminate. However, modern science disagrees with his logic, and many have evidence that proves Ebola can be stopped or at the very least slowed down by means of vaccinations or government operations. For example, the World Health Organization believes to have successfully found a vaccine that will protect against Ebola as of December 23, 2016. This organizations started the trial in 2015 and published the results in 2016. The results were “the vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, was studied in a trial involving 11,841 people in Guinea during 2015.

There is no specific treatment or cure for the Ebola virus. Given it has about a 90% death rate, and this is really, really high. The treatment that is given involves intensive nursing to replace lost body fluids and to prevent shock, renal failure, depletion of blood pressure. Mixing plasma and whole blood have been used but there were no appropriate clinical trials, so their effectiveness is unknown.

For many centuries, infectious diseases were the major cause of death worldwide. The last century saw a major global shift in the disease pattern. With the advancements in treatment and preventive modalities and improvement in living conditions, the infectious diseases were brought under control in the developed world, while the non-communicable chronic disorders started to emerge as the new threat. Towards the end of the previous century, the chronic diseases also started being more prevalent in the developing world. This became an additional burden over the already prevailing infectious diseases (1). Now, the threat of chronic diseases is widely acknowledged and major actions are directed towards tackling the global burden of non-communicable

Brincidofovir shows activity against the Ebola virus in vitro. Trials are planned for its use in the future in West Africa.

The symptoms of Ebola are a fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, vomiting, stomach pain, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness and occasionally read eyes, rashes, hiccups, and internal and external bleeding and since these symptoms are not specific to Ebola, it is difficult to clinically diagnose and can often be confused with other viruses. The ELISA testing, short for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and virus isolation are a couple of examples of the types of laboratory testing that can be done to diagnose and Ebola patient. Because of how easily it can be transmitted, it is extremely difficult to treat and there is no approved, official treatment. As of now, there is not standard treatment but usually the patients are given fluids and oxygen, have their blood pressure monitored and other necessary treatment. To prevent transmission and spreading the virus, the doctors use extreme caution and wear head to toe protective gear and isolate the patient. Even though the Ebola virus is common in Africa, there has been no known outbreak in the United States. Another difficulty facing scientists and the treatment for Ebola is that the natural reservoir for the virus unknown. The natural reservoir of a virus is it’s long term host of the

Since there is no  preventative treatment for the Ebola virus currently and treatment is only experimental, we have to take careful measures in

Techniques, like “[plant] cell culture, recombinant DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid] technology and cellular cloning, [would] now provide us with new ways to tap into natural diversity”(Seidler para. 3). To put it another way, biotechnology could provide new medicines. New medicines could eliminate side effect and eradicate repeated visit for injection in treatment for diseases or cancer(Christopher para. 4). Therefore, limiting biotechnology would hinder the process of creating new medicine. Medine would not be the only one affected in the medical field, but in addition, diseases could be