Biomedical techniques in translational studies: The journey so far

Biomedical techniques have wide clinical application in many fields of medicine such as oncology, rheumatology, immunology, genomics, cardiology and diagnostics; among others. This has been made possible with the use of genetic engineering and a number of techniques like Immunohistochemistry (IHC), Fluorescent Microscopy, Cell Culture, Genetically Modified (GM) Cells, Monoclonal Antibodies (MAbs), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Western blotting. The aim of this literature review is to explore the foundations and bases of the commonly used biomedical techniques, as well as their applications in biomedical research and clinical medicine in general. This review also aims to shed some light on more recent advances in genetic engineering, especially in relation to genetically modified cells and use of monoclonal antibodies which have found more increasing use and relevance in genomics, oncology, rheumatology, immunology, cardiology as well as diagnostics, and have revolutionised patient care, while at the same time resulting in improved standard of health care. Unfortunately, some of these new techniques are associated with unwanted side effects which may pose a risk to the people they are actually intended for. Therefore, there is need for strict regulations and guidelines to control the use and implementation of some of these novel techniques.