Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
single-cell and single-molecule analysis with possible transcriptional modifica-
tions. Of great importance will be the instant comparison of tissues or organs also
in a time-dependent manner. Therefore, simultaneous transcriptome analysis of
different samples in real-time will be a future challenge. Real-time PCR as an
example has been a powerful technology to meet these demands, but has not yet
been introduced in routine clinical bedside diagnostics. The limiting factor for the
roll-out of third generation sequencing is the bioinformatics, that is, the mathe-
matical analysis and computational basis behind it. Computer hardware and
software solutions are not yet available to enable genome sequencing, for example,
instantly at a patient's bedside.
Also the sector of protein analysis is developing fast towards whole proteome
detection in cell tissues and organs, as well as the subsequent modifications and
interactions. The use of mass spectrometry and NMR for protein analysis have
been a major breakthrough, and mass spectrometry has developed now to a leading
technology in the analysis of proteins and other biological molecules. These
technologies are advancing fast, and it will soon become routine in clinical
applications to employ mass spectrometry more frequently for diagnostic pur-
poses. Similar to nucleic acid analysis, further technological breakthroughs are
needed in the analysis of whole proteomes in complex samples, or single cells,
simultaneously detecting modifications and interactions, and also taking time
dependency into consideration. Also methods to analyse protein kinetics in a high-
throughput approach are still needed for in-depth understanding of the complex
system of cells. Awareness of metabolites as indicators for metabolic activity and
energy status in a cell, tissue, or organ has increased over the last decade, and mass
spectrometry was again a major technology allowing a much more comprehensive
analysis than it was possible before [
23
]. Although the dream to get a full me-
tabolome analysed in one analytical step cannot be fulfilled with today's methods,
but precision and throughput are advancing tremendously, and have now reached a
point where transfer of this technology to the bedside as one important molecular
diagnostic tool seems to be approaching fast. Efforts to bring protein and metab-
olite analysis into clinical practice are increasing because these types of biological
molecules will reflect the physiological status of a patient in contrast to the
genomic information that represents just the 'blue print' of a body.
Microarray technology followed sequencing technology and is a powerful tool
for a highly parallelized analysis of a broad spectrum of biological molecules, from
nucleic acids via proteins down to metabolites. The most recent advances have been
achieved in the employment of array technology for glycomics, the detection of
carbohydrates and oligosaccharides in a given tissue or cell as important bio-
markers. In the future, array technology will also be one of the major platforms that
allow the transfer of molecular assays to clinical practice as 'lab-on-a-chip'. Small
and integrative handheld devices such as the ivD platform [
24
] are an interesting
target for engineering to provide cheap and fast diagnostics close to the patient and
nearly real-time with a minimum of sample needed for each analysis.
As the future of medicine is shifting from a reactive to a more pro-active and
therefore preventive medicine, information about lifestyle and environment will
