May 5, 2021
How do doctors measure your liver function, kidney function,
cholesterol levels, and heart disease? They use biomarkers, and
David Wishart helps identify
biomarkers with analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, and
other bioinformatics tools. He and his colleagues look at blood or
urine and other biological fluids to help in the diagnosis and
characterization of human diseases.
He explains
David Wishart is a professor in the Departments of Biological
Sciences and Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He
works with bioinformatics software, nanobiology, and machine
learning in healthcare to fine tune the use of biomarkers in
diagnostics.
He explains that historically, most biomarkers have been proteins.
But developments in identifying cancer biomarkers, for example,
have focused on metabolomics. “Cancer is very much a metabolic
disorder,” he explains, “and some of the very first changes that
happen in cancer are fundamental changes in metabolism.”
Furthermore, tests can be combined, like a “gene test with a
protein test with a chemical test,” and that improves sensitivity
and the chances of catching a cancer earlier.
Neurodegenerative diseases pose a particular challenge, he
explains. An
Alzheimer’s biomarker is hard to identify because the
consequences of the disease and causes are not always clear.
Researchers are even pointing to microbiome connections and brain
metabolism. Therefore, it may actually be a gut microbiome test
that indicates Alzheimer’s. He adds, “we're finding, for instance,
bile acids in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.”
He describes what other chemicals they’re finding and how this
research might lead to better understandings of its pathogenesis
and how earlier testing and prevention might be possible.
Episode also available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/30PvU9C