By this time next year, if all goes according to plan, the world’s first human head transplant will have taken place, Italian surgeon Sergio Canavero has revealed.
In early 2015, Canavero made headlines around the world when he announced that he would perform the ground-breaking surgery within two years. Now, he has revealed in an interview with German magazine OOOM that it’s going to take place within 10 months, in China.
Continue reading… “Human head transplant less than a year away”
Researchers face a fundamental challenge as they seek to scale up human tissue regeneration from small lab samples to full-size tissues, bones, even whole organs to implant in people to treat disease or traumatic injuries: how to establish a vascular system that delivers blood deep into the developing tissue.
Current bioengineering techniques, including 3-D printing, can’t fabricate the branching network of blood vessels down to the capillary scale that are required to deliver the oxygen, nutrients and essential molecules required for proper tissue growth. To solve this problem, a multidisciplinary research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Arkansas State University-Jonesboro have successfully turned to plants. They report their initial findings in the paper “Crossing kingdoms: Using decelluralized plants as perfusable tissue engineering scaffolds” published online in advance of the May 2017 issue of the journal Biomaterials.
Continue reading… “Researchers grow heart tissue on spinach leaves”
We have learned how to manipulate the code of life. Why this hasn’t received more attention is beyond me.
Synthetic Biology is a multidisciplinary field that often defies definition. Yet despite its complexity, it is a remarkably easy field to apply once you’ve learned the science behind it. From a computer, you can input your desired genetic sequence, print it out, glue it together, put it into a cell and then watch whatever you have created sprout.
Continue reading… “Humans Can Now “Print” Genetic Code and Engineer Life”
When you use something so much, your body becomes accustomed to it, and it no longer has the same effect that it once did. This is exactly what’s happening with antibiotics. Our bodies are becoming immune to their effects and building an antibiotic resistance. Statistics show that at least 2 million people are infected every year by antibiotic-resistant bacteria just in the US alone; out of the 2 million around 23,000 people die because of it. Some researchers have even estimated that if no action is taken by 2050 as many as 10 million people will die each year from superbugs, costing the nation around $100 trillion trying to treat.
Continue reading… “Scientists are planning to replace antibiotics”
To the 78 organs that make up the human body, a group of scientists says we should add one more: the mesentery. Located in our abdominal cavity, the mesentery is a belt of tissue that holds our intestines in place. While anatomists knew it was there, it was always thought to be composed of several different segments, as opposed to being one single structure. This knocked it out of contention for organ status, as our bodily organs must be continuous, as well as provide some vital function to our anatomy.
Continue reading… “The human body’s 79th organ?”
Scientists at the Pharmaceutical Artificial Intelligence (pharma.AI) group of Insilico Medicine, Inc, today announced the publication of a seminal paper demonstrating the application of generative adversarial autoencoders (AAEs) to generating new molecular fingerprints on demand.
Continue reading… “AI will generate new cancer drugs”
A team of international researchers recently unveiled a nano array that can identify the chemical signatures of 17 different diseases, possibly bringing us closer to the day when doctors might be able to use a medical tricorder a la Star Trek to instantly diagnose a patient’s conditions.
Continue reading… “Scientists can identify unique “breathprint” of diseases”
In the hospitals of the future, your doctor may walk out with your charts and back in with a new body part for you to try on. At least, that appears to be the future the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia has in mind. The institution is in the process of constructing a “biofabrication” room meant for 3D-printing bone, cartilage and other human tissue as it is needed. Known as the Herston Biofabrication Institute, the goal of the ambitious new project, currently slated for a 2017 launch, will be to “advance knowledge and technology in 3D scanning, modeling, and printing of bone.”
Continue reading… “Hospitals could soon have ‘Biofabricated’ human tissue 3D printed”
London doctors have made the headlines this week as they become the first medical staff ever to use a 3D printed heart model to improve surgical procedures and predict any dangers such as serious changes to a person’s heartbeat. It works by taking images from a CMR (cardiovascular magnetic resonance) scan and creating an exact replica of the subject’s heart, muscles, valves, and chambers.
Continue reading… “London doctors have printed the world’s first 3D heart model”
It’s no secret that Apple has ambitious plans for iPhone and Apple Watch in the health industry, but it’s not the only company looking for ways to integrate smartphones in the medical field. Recently, a research team from Washington State University, under the leadership of assistant professor Lei Li, developed a portable laboratory that’s powered by a smartphone and capable of detecting cancer nearly instantly…
NO, REALLY. AMPUTEES HAVE BEEN TESTING THEM FOR OVER A YEAR
For a full decade, Gudmundur Olafsson was unable to move his right ankle. That’s because it wasn’t there. Olafsson’s amputated lower leg was the delayed casualty of an accident from his childhood in Iceland, when he was hit by an oil truck. “I lived in pain for 28 years,” says Olafsson. “After 50-plus operations, I had it off.” For years after the operation he wore a Proprio Foot, a prosthetic with a motorized, battery-powered ankle, sold by the Reykjavik-based company Ossur.
Continue reading… “Brain-Controlled Bionic Legs Are Here At Last”
A whole new way to treat paralysis.
Scientists have figured out how to make nerve fibres repair themselves in mice, having identified a gene that inhibits fibre regrowth when nerve connections become damaged.
This gene, called Cacna2d2, acts as ‘molecular brake’, but now that we know how to turn the brake off, it could help us to develop treatments for conditions like paralysis and other spinal cord injuries.
Continue reading… “Scientists discover how to help nerve fibres repair themselves”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.