Mike Darwin on: Whatever Happened to the Future of Medicine

Why the much anticipated medical breakthroughs of the early 21st century are
failing to materialize

Saturday 30th May 2009, 2pm-4pm. Room 403 (fourth floor), Birkbeck College,
Torrington Square, London WC1E 7HX. There's no charge to attend, and everyone is
welcome.

Speaker

Mike Darwin has 30 years experience in cutting edge medical research. Co-founder
of the Institute for Advanced Biological Studies, 1977. President of Alcor Life
Extension 1983-1988, Research Director 1988-1992. Described by Wikipedia as
"Second only to Robert Ettinger as one of the most influential figures in the
controversial field of cryonics"

Description of talk

The last half of the 20th Century was a time of explosive growth in growth in
high technology medicine. Effective chemotherapy for many microbial diseases,
the advent of sophisticated vaccination, the development and application of the
corticosteroids, and the development of extracorporeal and cardiovascular
prosthetic medicine (cardiopulmonary bypass, hemodialysis, synthetic arterial
vascular grafts and cardiac valves) are but a few examples of what can only be
described as stunning progress in medicine derived in large measure from
translation research.

The closing decades of the last century brought confident predictions from both
academic and clinical researchers (scientists and physicians alike) that the
opening decade of this century would see, if not definitive cure or control,
then certainly the first truly effective therapeutic drugs for cancer,
ischemia-reperfusion injury (i.e. heart attack, stroke and cardiac arrest),
multisystem organ failure and dysfunction (MSOF/D), immunomodulation (control of
rejection and much improved management of autoimmune diseases), oxygen
therapeutics and more radically, the perfection of long term organ preservation,
widespread use of the total artificial heart (TAH) and the clinical application
of the first drugs to slow or moderate biological aging.

However, none of these anticipated gains has materialized, and countless drug
trials in humans based on highly successful animal models of MSOF/D, stroke,
heart attack, cancer, and immunomodulation have failed. Indeed it may be
reasonably argued that the pace of therapeutic advance has slowed. By contrast,
the growth of technology and capability in some areas of diagnostic medicine,
primarily imaging, has maintained its exponential rate of growth and, while much
slower than growth in other areas of technological endeavor, such as
communications and consumer electronics, progress has been impressive.

Why has translational research at the cutting edge of medicine (and in
particular in critical care medicine) stalled, or often resulted in clinical
trials that had to be halted due to increased morbidity and mortality in the
treated patients? The answers to these questions are complex and multifactorial,
and deserve careful review.

Renewed success in the application of translational research in humans will
require a return to the understanding and acceptance of the inescapable fact
that perfection of complex biomedical technologies cannot be modeled solely in
the animal or computer research laboratory. The corollary of this understanding
must be the acceptance of the unpleasant reality that perfection of novel, let
alone revolutionary medical technologies, will require a huge cost in human
suffering and sacrifice. The aborted journey of the TAH to widespread clinical
application due to the unwillingness on the part of the public, and the now
extant bioethical infrastructure in medicine, to accept the years of suffering
accompanied by modest, incremental advances towards perfection of this
technology, is a good example of what might rightly be described as a societal
`failure of nerve' in the face of great benefit at great cost. It may be rightly
said, to quote the political revolutionary Delores Ibarruri, that we must once
again come to understand that, "It is better to die on our feet than to live on
our knees!"

Pre-meeting and post-meeting activities

Why not join some of the UKTA regulars for a drink and/or lunch any time after
12.30pm, in The Marlborough Arms, 36 Torrington Place, London WC1E 7HJ. To find
us, look out for a table where there's a copy of James Halperin's book "The
First Immortal" displayed. (This book is a well-researched and thought-provoking
novel about cryonics.)

Discussion is likely to continue after the event, in a nearby pub, for those who
are able to stay.

Room 403 is on the fourth floor (via the main lift) in the main Birkbeck College
building, in Torrington Square (which is a pedestrian-only square). Torrington
Square is about 10 minutes walk from either Russell Square or Goodge St tube
stations.

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The ExtroBritannia events are organised by the UK Transhumanist Association
http://www.transhumanist.org.uk/

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