The spate of superhero movies this summer has some of us wondering just how close we are to achieving super-human status. We may be closer than you think, writes IMT contributor Susannah Nevison.

Due to innovative work in the field of biotechnology, we are gaining ground in improving health and medicine. Are we really that far from being “improved” and better equipped like this summer’s Batman, Iron Man, Hulk and Speed (Racer)?

Ongoing research in biomedical engineering is gradually bringing us closer to a future in which real-life Six Million Dollar Man types — “better, stronger, faster” — exist. Here are just a few recent developments.

Better
Batman doesn’t take sick days. As far as antibiotic treatment goes, we’re all familiar with frustrating resistant bacteria, but biomedical engineers at Boston University’s College of Engineering may have found a way to outsmart these persistent little guys. As of September 2007, new studies seem to have hit upon a shared process among the three most commonly used antibiotics that results in the production of free radicals, such as hydroxyl. Free radicals carry an extra electron that acts as a small warrior, killing almost anything it encounters, including bacteria. This discovery may lead to a decrease in antibiotic dosage and an increase in new drugs designed to make the most of free radicals.

But that’s just what’s going on inside the body — what about those bruises you get when you’re off fighting crime?

Luckily for us, Georgia Tech researchers are expanding the way biomedical imaging is used in clinical assessment of bruises and erythema. Using a narrowband filter mosaic to enable bruise and erythema detection and analysis may lead to quick, accurate diagnosis and treatment. According to ScienceDaily, the filter also has the potential to offer “a reliable, low-cost method to instantaneously classify military targets, sort produce, inspect product quality in manufacturing, detect contamination in foods, perform remote sensing in mining, monitor atmospheric composition in environmental engineering and diagnose early stage cancer and tumors.”

Stronger
Nobody likes a cheater. With the Olympic Games just around the corner (i.e., this Friday), rumors of gene doping have been flying off the handle. In 2002, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), established by the International Olympic Committee, had a conference to determine the WADA code concerning the genetic alteration and the subsequent enhancement of athletic performance. “The non-therapeutic use of cells, genes, genetic elements or the modulation of gene expression, having the capacity to enhance athletic performance, is prohibited,” became the key part of the WADA code now endorsed by 192 countries and 570 sports organizations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s International Convention against Doping in Sport has a similar code, with 87 aboard — the U.S. so far, is not one of them.

If you’re going to try and be super-human, do it honestly.

For those athletes who don’t gene-dope, their bodies are subjected to extreme amounts of wear and tear. Because of recent advancements in stem-cell research at the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, there may be a successful way to repair and treat damaged muscles, bones and cartilage through using healthy cells from the patient’s blood vessels, called myoendothelial cells. Not only do these cells tend not to form tumors, as other stem cells do, they also have successfully produced new healthy cells when tested and transplanted in mice.

Now that’s award-winning science.

Faster
OK, so we cheated a bit here, but in terms of growth and development, the biotech industry is speeding ahead. Hundreds of biotech drugs are in the pipeline and the biotech industry has grown to $462 billion, up 3 percent in Q2 of 2008, according to biotech financing firm Burrill & Co.

As a result of the industry’s impressive growth and strength, new standards were adopted to address the generation of biotechnology patents, university grant funding and overall “greenness” of each state — a category defined in part by the number of state-certified LEED buildings. Which states take the prize for overall biotechnological strength? Pennsylvania, California and Massachusetts are the current top three.

Because of the industry’s booming success, investors have been turning toward biotechnology, making investment opportunities in the sector a promising venture. The biotech sector was the best performing sector in July.

“With investors flocking to safety due to recent financial turmoil and the sharp correction in energy, funds and investors have been warming up to biotech,” according to stock market analysis source Seeking Alpha.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that biotechnology is the fastest-growing economic development sector in the United States,” according to Business Facilities‘ 2008 Ranking Report.

Resources

BME Researchers Find a Chink in Bacterial Armor
by Kate Fink
Boston University College of Engineering, Sept. 6, 2007

New Technology Puts Biomedical Imaging In Palm Of Hands
ScienceDaily, May 23, 2008

Gene Doping Hits the Headlines
by Pete Shanks
Bio Political Times (Center for Genetics and Society), July 29, 2008

Scientists Reach Stem Cell Milestone
by Alice Park
Time, July 31, 2008

Biotech Remains Upbeat in Wake of Market Turmoil
Burrill & Co., July 1, 2008

A Biotech Bloom in July
by Viet Ly
Seeking Alpha, July 28, 2008

2008 Business Facilities Rankings Report
by Jack Rogers and Bill Tr