If a fetus can be transferred to a fabricated womb, can the right to abortion survive?
Continue reading… “Artificial wombs are coming and could completely change the debate over abortion”
Edible robot surgeons will cure you from the inside out
Back in 1985, the best robotic surgeon we had was the Puma 560, a manipulator arm just barely more advanced than Rocky Balboa’s robo-butler. Just barely. The Puma was nevertheless revolutionary. It was the very first mechanical operator, progenitor to steady-handed robo-surgeons like the DaVinci system. But in the near future, robots will no longer be cutting into us — from the outside, at least.
Continue reading… “Edible robot surgeons will cure you from the inside out”
Making on-demand organ transplants possible with cryopreservation
According to a recent report in Nature Biotechnology, about 70 percent of eligible donated hearts never get utilized and up to 20 percent of donated kidneys are discarded in the United States today. And worldwide only 10 percent of the organ need is being met, according to the World Health Organization who calls the shortage “among the greatest crises facing bio-medicine today.”
Continue reading… “Making on-demand organ transplants possible with cryopreservation”
Sperm counts plummet in western men, study finds
An international team of scientists analyzed data from men around the world and found sperm counts declining in Western countries
Continue reading… “Sperm counts plummet in western men, study finds”
US facing imminent OB-GYN shortage
Women and women’s health advocates breathed a sigh of relief this week as the Better Health Reconciliation Act died a quiet death in the Senate.
Continue reading… “US facing imminent OB-GYN shortage”
The potential for blockchain to transform electronic health records
A vexing problem facing health care systems throughout the world is how to share more medical data with more stakeholders for more purposes, all while ensuring data integrity and protecting patient privacy.
Continue reading… “The potential for blockchain to transform electronic health records”
This chip beams images onto the brain to help the blind see again
Circumventing your eyes entirely, this chip beams images from the world onto the brain to help restore sight
Continue reading… “This chip beams images onto the brain to help the blind see again”
Wireless power could enable ingestible electronics
Small sensors or drug delivery devices could reside in the GI tract indefinitely
Continue reading… “Wireless power could enable ingestible electronics”
Dogs can sniff out Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms appear
Dogs could soon be used to sniff out Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms start to show.
Continue reading… “Dogs can sniff out Parkinson’s disease years before symptoms appear”
Organoids proposed to screen patients for high priced drugs
Medical scientist Hans Clevers thinks tests in lab-grown mini-organs could help make expensive drugs more cost-effective by identifying patients who are and aren’t likely to benefit.
Continue reading… “Organoids proposed to screen patients for high priced drugs”
Self-driving doctor brings the doctor to you
Even those of us fortunate enough to have good health insurance will often put off seeing a doctor when we probably should. Often it’s simply a matter of logistics. We feel like we can’t take the time off work, or arrange transportation, or get childcare to make the trip.
But what if the doctor just comes you? In a self-driving car.
Continue reading… “Self-driving doctor brings the doctor to you”
The factories of the future could float in space
This past summer, a plane went into a stomach-churning ascent and plunge 30,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico. The goal was not thrill-seeking, but something more genuinely daring: for about 25 seconds at a time, the parabolic flight lifted the occupants into a state of simulated weightlessness, allowing a high-tech printer to spit out cardiac stem cells into a two-chambered, simplified structure of an infant’s heart.
Continue reading… “The factories of the future could float in space”
