Human Diseases and Recent Biotechnology Breakthroughs in Curbing Diseases

Medical biotechnology represents a field in continuous progress and today has revolutionized how illnesses are diagnosed and treated. A look at the latest medical biotechnological breakthroughs shows how biotechnology innovations are changing medicine. Recently, we saw how biotechnology affected efforts to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the world's health. The scientific community has been working assiduously to develop effective treatments for the prevention and management of other diseases, such as cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, along with other dementia variants that stand out among the leading causes of mortality worldwide. This effort has recently resulted in the development of RNA vaccines. Some of the most promising biotechnological developments include gene therapy to alter an individual's genetic makeup through diverse techniques, immunotherapeutic methods that bolster the body's natural immune defense mechanisms, and precision medicine strategies in which treatment is personalized to a patient's genetic profile. This chapter provides an overview of the most prevalent and deadly human diseases with a focus on recent biotechnological breakthroughs.