science & technology
TEDMED: Alex Bernstein On Navigating Arteries
JUST RELEASED FROM LAST YEARS TEDMED: Alex Berenstein shows how modern science can navigate inside our arteries to fix complications in amazing ways.
Berenstein, MD (Dr B.) was born in Mexico City in 1948, graduated from the UNAM, at present is Professor of Radiology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and is Director of the Hyman-Newman Institute for Neurology
More over at the wonderful TEDMED
£1.74 Million Grant Boosts Cystic Fibrosis Research at Queen’s
Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast have begun work into improving the lives of thousands of Cystic Fibrosis sufferers thanks to the award of a £1.74 million US-Ireland Research and Development Partnership grant.
The grant has been approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA with funding for the Queen’s component provided by Health and Social Care Research and Development (HSC R&D Public Health Agency), Northern Ireland and the Medical Research Council. The grant is the largest ever to be awarded in the UK to study the microbiology of Cystic Fibrosis pulmonary infection. (more…)
Vitamin D: The Wild Wild West
Got milk? You may need a couple cups more than today’s food labels say to get enough vitamin D for strong bones. But don’t go overboard: Long-awaited new dietary guidelines say there’s no proof that megadoses prevent cancer or other ailments – sure to frustrate backers of the so-called sunshine vitamin.
The decision by the prestigious US based Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, could put some brakes on the nation’s vitamin D craze, warning that super-high levels could be risky.
“More is not necessarily better,” cautioned Dr. Joann Manson of Harvard Medical School, who co-authored the Institute of Medicine’s report being released Tuesday. (more…)
New Imaging Technique Accurately Finds Cancer Cells, Fast
The long, anxious wait for biopsy results could soon be over, thanks to a tissue-imaging technique developed at the University of Illinois.
The research team demonstrated the novel microscopy technique, called nonlinear interferometric vibrational imaging (NIVI), on rat breast-cancer cells and tissues. It produced easy-to-read, color-coded images of tissue, outlining clear tumor boundaries, with more than 99 percent confidence – in less than five minutes.
Led by professor and physician Stephen A. Boppart, who holds appointments in electrical and computer engineering, bioengineering and medicine, the Illinois researchers will publish their findings on the cover of the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Cancer Research.
Source: Physorg
Man to Travel 200 Miles in Solar-Powered Wheelchair
Chances are, you haven’t heard of Haidar Taleb yet, but he’s on a mission to inspire the world. On Monday, the disabled 47-year-old from the UAE is set to embark on a record-breaking 200 mile voyage across the desert in a solar-powered wheelchair he designed and built himself. “With this journey I hope to raise awareness of disability and sustainability as well as what we can achieve as individuals if we have the courage and determination to try,” he says. (more…)
Green Light for Blindness Stem Cell Trial
Twelve people left almost blind by a hereditary condition that strikes in childhood are to receive the world’s first eye therapy derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs).
Stargardt’s macular dystrophy currently affects 1 in 8,000 people in the US. Their sight deteriorates from around age six when retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPEs) start to die off rapidly, possibly due to a defective gene. Without RPEs to support and nourish them, adjacent photoreceptor cells which capture light signals, die too and blindness is the result. (more…)
