Mice with damaged spine, enabled to walk again…Faster Please…

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Sci Fi Engineer

JANUARY 15, 2021
Designer cytokine makes paralyzed mice walk again
by Ruhr-Universitaet-Bochum

“Thus, gene therapy treatment of only a few nerve cells stimulated the axonal regeneration of various nerve cells in the brain and several motor tracts in the spinal cord simultaneously,” says Dietmar Fischer. “Ultimately, this enabled the previously paralyzed animals that received this treatment to start walking after two to three weeks. This came as a great surprise to us at the beginning, as it had never been shown to be possible before after full paraplegia.”
Above article in MedicalXPress via Phys.org

Let’s hope this paves the way for human treatment. Not that I don’t love cyborg exoskeletons in their place, but this is far better.

Is the end of infectious disease nigh?

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Sci Fi Engineer

proimmune

Great piece in Reason, not utterly poo-poohing Ebola fear but pointing to a potential future where infectious disease is conquered.
REASON : Ebola: ‘Dress Rehearsal’ or Show Closer? Rapid biomedical progress will soon make epidemics ancient history

3D printer builds a Lower Jawbone Replacement

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Sci Fi Engineer

This piece of news popped up all over earlier this week, but the Technology Review piece though short gives it some context. The rapid advances in imaging, tissue creation, stem cell technology, bio compatible materials, low impact surgery and 3D fabrication are being brought together to make things possible that were once fantasy and to eventually overtake transplants in the traditional sense.

While this is fascinating from a sci-fi writer’s viewpoint, the reality is something close to awe-inspiring.

Blue Green Algae and the Hindenburg

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Sci Fi Engineer

This is a significant breakthrough the ability to use raw sunlight and chemisty to get H2 would make many green energy technologies more feasible. I still like the idea of pond slime diesel, but then I’m probably just strange.