When I look at this topic, i get reminded of the development of Stem cells. It seems to be the area of research and development with the greatest potentials and benefits to be reaped.
Stem cells, is widely known to have great potential to improve our lives. As i read on about it, i realised that they have 2 main characteristics :
1) Self-replicating : Able to multiply on its own
2) Morphing : it can morph into specialised cells, that is used for different purpose.
Stem cells are found in our body, in various tissues. When cultured in a particular way, we get a type of cell that will develop in a purpose that we want it to serve. What are the benefits?
taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell
Looking at the potentials, for human mankind alone, it can already help in so many ways. Many of the disabling or life-threatening ailments now have a potential solution.
This is why it is very important to advance our research in that area and reach a stable technology, these illnesses are very undesirable to people and I believe the world will be a much happier place with such a treatment becomes widely available. With resistance and cures to ailments, humans will now be able to search deeper frontiers which had not been explored.
I was disappointed when the top scientists we "poached" from overseas left Singapore for other opportunities. They cited reasons like our government's red tape, bureaucracy, lack of support and funding. I found it quite a waste that Singapore spent so much money on the development of infrastructure, mainly at the biopolis and the science park, and that when the top researchers left, there was media coverage and it does not reflect very well of our country.
Based on World Health's Organisation data, General government expenditure on health as a percentage of total expenditure on health, over the years in the world have been close to 70%.
(source : http://apps.who.int/ghodata/?vid=1901#)
This signifies that governments around the world recognises the need for healthcare to be developed and provided for their citizens. This may be due to it's relatively high cost and it is inevitable that humans will fall ill. Therefore there needs to be resources allocated for the flourishing of the biomedical field to flourish.
I feel that at our current rate we would eventually be able to reach a level that stem cells would be 'mass-produced' for mankind to use for cures. However, this process would be very slow due to ethics, red tapes, and government regulation issues which would hinder the growth of that sector. This i guess cannot be helped as there are also a lot of situations which require immediate attention, and as compared to R&D in biomedicine as the yield may not be seen as quickly.
I rate this session a 9/10
+ I was envisioning a better future in this world, that gives me hope to live longer.
- Ethics issue tend to come to play when we talk about genetic engineering, which i felt that there will be no end to the discussion.
Are there any hopes for Singapore to be like the past, in the golden times where Biology was thought to be the new niche?
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