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Thomas Frey - Senior Futurist at the DaVinci Institute

» Currently browsing: Medical Breakthrough


Vision-Restoring Surgery That Used Patient’s Tooth Performed In U.S.

September 17th, 2009 at 5:54 am » Comments (0)

Sharron Kay Thornton talks with her lead surgeon Victor Perez who restored sight to her left eye.
Doctors in Miami announced Wednesday that they had performed a vision-restoring surgery that used the 60-year-old patient’s tooth.The surgery, the first in the USA, was performed Labor Day weekend at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of [...]



Skeleton Found At Roman Site In Britain Mystifies Archaeologists

September 16th, 2009 at 9:13 am » Comments (0)

A skeleton, found at one of the most important, but least understood, Roman sites in Britain is puzzling experts from The University of Nottingham.
A skeleton, found at one of the most important, but least understood, Roman sites in Britain is puzzling experts from The University of Nottingham.



Wine Tasting: Expectations Influence Sense Of Taste, Tests Show

September 15th, 2009 at 9:12 am » Comments (0)

Wine tastes different to those who are given information on the product before a wine tasting, tests where the test people received information on the wine before and after the tasting have shown.
Wine tastes different to those who are given information on the product before a wine tasting, tests where the test people received information [...]



Meet The Woman Who “Sees” Time

September 14th, 2009 at 7:18 am » Comments (0)

 
Space time continuum may be the stuff of Star Trek, but it’s not mere fiction to Holly Branigan. The Edinburgh University psychologist can actually “see” time:
“I thought everyone thought like I did, says Holly Branigan, also a scientist at Edinburgh University, and someone with time-space synaesthesia.
“I found out when I attended a talk in the [...]



‘On-Off Switch’ Mechanism Stops Spread Of Cancer

September 12th, 2009 at 12:27 am » Comments (0)

A tiny bit of genetic material with no previously known function may hold the key to stopping the spread of cancer, researchers at Yale School of Medicine and Sichuan University in Chengdu, China report in two papers in the September 7-11 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
 



Zebrafish Cloning Methods Improved

September 1st, 2009 at 9:18 am » Comments (0)

These are zebrafish that were cloned in the Michigan State University Cellular Reprogramming Laboratory
A team of Michigan State University researchers has developed a new, more efficient way of cloning zebra fish, a breakthrough that could have implications for human health research.



Heat Forms Potentially Harmful Substance In High-fructose Corn Syrup, Bee Study Finds

August 27th, 2009 at 9:21 am » Comments (0)

A new study shows that heat can produce a potentially toxic substance in high-fructose corn syrup that may kill honeybees.
Researchers have established the conditions that foster formation of potentially dangerous levels of a toxic substance in the high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) that is often fed to honey bees. Their study, which appears in the current [...]



Blast Waves May Cause Human Brain Injury Even Without Direct Head Impacts

August 27th, 2009 at 9:16 am » Comments (0)

The Army’s Advanced Combat Helmet replaced the older Personal Armor System for Ground Troops helmet.
New research on the effects of blast waves could lead to an enhanced understanding of head injuries and improved military helmet design.



Scientists Discover A Potentially Better, More Efficient Drug Delivery System

August 27th, 2009 at 7:58 am » Comments (0)

University of California Santa Barbara researcher Erkki Ruoslahti
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have discovered a potential new drug delivery system. The finding is a biological mechanism for delivery of nanoparticles into tissue. The results are published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
 



Kidney Dialysis Machine Small Enough To Wear On Belt

August 22nd, 2009 at 11:41 am » Comments (0)

The breakthrough could potentially free thousands of patients from attending hospital every other day.  More than 25,000 people in Britain need to have regular dialysis, usually around three times a week, because their kidneys do not function properly.
 



World’s First Face, Jaw and Tongue Transplant Performed In Spain

August 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 am » Comments (0)

The world’s first face, jaw and tongue transplant has been carried out by doctors in Spain.  Surgeons spent 16 hours operating on a 43-year-old man whose face had been horribly disfigured.
 



Genetic Link Between Physical Pain And Social Rejection Found

August 21st, 2009 at 9:30 am » Comments (0)

Social rejection can hurt.
UCLA psychologists have determined for the first time that a gene linked with physical pain sensitivity is associated with social pain sensitivity as well.



A Step Closer

August 21st, 2009 at 8:54 am » Comments (0)

Oh what fun it appears that scientists are attempting to play God again
In what has been described as a step towards the creation of a synthetic cell, scientists have created a new “engineered” strain of bacteria.



Scientists Create Fake DNA

August 19th, 2009 at 7:36 am » Comments (0)

DNA or faux DNA?

A laboratory at Nucleix, a life-sciences company, was able to manufacture DNA that would be accurate enough to pass forensic scrutiny:
“You can just engineer a crime scene,” Nucleix founder Dan Frumkin told The New York Times. “The current forensic procedure fails to distinguish between such samples of blood, saliva, and touched surfaces [...]



Cochlear Implants Technology Getting Smaller, Faster, Smarter

August 18th, 2009 at 9:40 am » Comments (0)

Serena Rush, 6, who got cochlear implants about 4 years ago and now has about 70% hearing.
Six-year-old Serena Rush loves to belt out It’s a Hard Knock Life, her favorite tune from the musical Annie, and someday she hopes to be a stage actress, when she’s not being a lifeguard. Which is pretty splendid considering [...]



Anti-Cancer Compound Discovered

August 14th, 2009 at 11:49 am » Comments (0)

I think its about time we give mice credit for their role in creating new medicine
A new study conducted on mice has uncovered a chemical compound that effectively targets cancer stem cells – the key cells that spread malignant tumours and are usually resistant to treatment.



Experimental Treatment Reverses Multiple Sclerosis In Animals

August 12th, 2009 at 9:26 am » Comments (0)

A new experimental treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) completely reverses the devastating autoimmune disorder in mice, and might work exactly the same way in humans, say researchers at the Jewish General Hospital Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University in Montreal.
 



First Wi-Fi Pacemaker In US Allows Doctors To Monitor Health Over The Internet

August 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am » Comments (0)

Two of St. Jude Medical’s latest devices, a pacemaker and an AICD, that feature company’s wireless reporting technology.
After relying on a pacemaker for 20 years, Carol Kasyjanski has become the first American recipient of a wireless pacemaker that allows her doctor to monitor her health from afar — over the Internet.
 



A Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid With a Built-In MP3 Input

August 11th, 2009 at 7:31 am » Comments (0)

Can you hear me now?

A new generation of hearing aids will be able to block out background noise and let users directly jack into music:
On Friday Mr Hughes had tiny titanium screws drilled into bone behind each ear during a 90-minute operation under general anaesthetic. Once the wounds heal and the screws have fused with [...]



Researchers Find Nerve Cells Responsible For Itch

August 7th, 2009 at 10:48 am » Comments (0)

Researchers have found specific nerve cells responsible for itchiness, a discovery that could lead to better treatments for skin conditions.
 



Tumors Exposed To Oxygen Improves Cancer Treatments

August 1st, 2009 at 12:36 pm » Comments (0)

Exposing tumors to oxygen can make radiotherapy significantly more effective in destroying cancer, research has indicated.  Experiments on mice have shown that cancer cells can be “softened up” before treatment by boosting the supply of oxygen.



Cure For Drug-Resistant Fungal Infections Found

August 1st, 2009 at 12:14 pm » Comments (0)

Fungal infections can be deadly as fungus germs have developed resistance to drug treatment. But now researchers have found a way to make drugs more effective in clearing all fungal infections.



Rapid Chlamydia Diagnosis

July 31st, 2009 at 6:58 pm » Comments (0)

Its like a pregnancy test for guys
A urine test can diagnose the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia in men within an hour, enabling on-the-spot treatment.



Colon Cancer Vaccine

July 28th, 2009 at 9:25 am » Comments (0)

X-ray image shows a barium enema in a patient with cancer of the bowel
A cancer vaccine with a twist is making headway in clinical trials at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Rather than targeting a cancer-related virus–the way Gardasil targets human papillomavirus to prevent some cervical cancers–the new vaccine triggers the immune system [...]



Researchers Produce Cells That Resemble Embro Stem Cells

July 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm » Comments (0)

More creepy stem cell goodness
Two groups of Chinese researchers have performed an unprecedented feat, it was announced today, by inducing cells from connective tissue in mice to revert back to their embryonic state and producing living mice from them.