These 2021 Biotech Breakthroughs Will Shape the Future of Health and Medicine

Singularity Hub

Itโ€™s that time of year again! With 2021 behind us, weโ€™re going down memory lane to highlight biotech innovations that shaped the yearโ€”with impact that will likely reverberate for many years to come. Covid-19 dominated the news, but science didnโ€™t stand still.

Take gene editing. CRISPR spun off variations with breathtaking speed, expanding into a hefty toolbox packed with powerhouse gene editors far more efficient, reliable, and safer than their predecessors.ย CRISPRoff,ย for example, hijacks epigenetic processes to reversibly turn genes on and offโ€”all without actually snipping or damaging the gene itself. Prime editing, the nip-tuck of DNA editing that only snipsโ€”rather than fully cuttingโ€”DNAย received an upgradeย to precisely edit up to 10,000 DNA letters in a variety of cells.ย Twin prime editingย can rework entire genes. These powered-up CRISPR tools now make it possible to tackle previously untouchable genetic disorders.

Yet weโ€™re still only scratching the surface of gene editing. Peeking intoย the CRISPR family tree, scientists found a vast universe of alternative CRISPR-like systems to further explore. AI is now helping identify new CRISPR proteinsโ€”and theirย kill switch. Other ideas jumped ship from CRISPR altogether, tapping intoย another powerful bacterial systemย to edit millions of DNA sequences without breaking a single DNA strand. Without doubt, the gene editing toolbox will keep expanding.

In other news,ย quantum mechanics hooked up with neuroscienceย toย speed up AI. AI is nowย designing its ownย hardware chips at Google in an efficient full circle. Hopping into our own brains, in a stunning proof-of-concept, AI-powered brain implants were able to fightย depression, with ongoing work to treatย chronic painย and translate the brainโ€™s electrical signals fromย thought to text. In the medical world,ย a fierce debateย onย an Alzheimerโ€™s treatmentย sparked aย new roundย of alluring ideasย to tackle and tame our long-time mind-eating foe.

Thereโ€™s a ton more. But here are the top three advances thatโ€™ll keep reshaping biotech far past 2021, with some runners-up.

  1. mRNA Vaccines: Digital Vaccines
  2. In Vivo Gene Therapy: Directly editing genes inside the body
  3. Human Development: Understanding human embryoโ€™s development

Byย Shelly Fan

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