For many years parents have been suffering the heartbreak of having their child diagnosed with a mitochondria disease and watching them suffer. The disease is a result of mutated DNA located inside an egg which eventually becomes fertilized by sperm and becomes an embryo. Children that suffer mitochondria diseases can have a range of health problems that leave them sick, permanently disabled or even result in an early death. Science is on the verge of being able to correct this problem…Read More >>
Synthetic biology, long the subject of science fiction, has come into its own this year as scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute published a report outlining an important goal reached on the road to creating synthetic life. Not to be confused with genetic engineering, which alters or enhances a particular organism by inserting specific pieces of genetic material into the cell, synthetic biologists are attempting to create an entirely new life. The vocabulary of the synthetic biologist includes… Read More >>
Grow New Body Parts in Your Own Abdomen
The term “stem cell research” has stirred up a great deal of controversy in recent years and this controversy is something that can be easily misunderstood. There are two major types of stem cells, embryonic and adult, and it is only embryonic stem cell research that requires the destruction of human embryos. Many people—including President Bush—object to such destruction on religious grounds. They hold that an embryo is, in essence, a human being and that destroying it for research purposes is tantamount to murder. No such objections are raised against adult stem cell research because... Read More >>
Since 1997 when Dolly the cloned sheep was born, scientists have been successful in creating dozens of animal clones. Understanding chromosome duplication and cell division has resulted thus far in the births of cloned pigs, mice, cows, goats, and even a cat. However, scientists at the University of Pittsburgh have found that their most recent and ambitious attempt to clone a monkey has proven to be a disappointment. Due to a basic obstacle in the molecular structure… Read More >>
Cloned Mice Cells Help Treat Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson’s disease is a disorder of the brain that causes symptoms such as impaired motor control, tremors, rigidity, and difficulty with balance. The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease occur because of the death or impairment of neurons in the brain that control the production and release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. When the brain… Read More >>
Artificial Skin Senses Hot and Cold
While humans typically gauge our environment in miles or kilometers, the scale of choice for researchers studying the world of atoms and molecules is the nanometer. Objects at the nanometer scale are too small for even high-powered microscopes to see… Read More >>
Of the scores of technologies that appear to have enormous potential with respect to medical applications, one of the most promising is the use of bionic implants. Some such implants are already widely used and are well known to the general public; the pacemaker, used to regulate the beating of the heart, was one of the first bionic devices to be commonly used. Perhaps the most publicized… Read More >>
The debate over genetic research, particularly with respect to the use of human embryos and stem cell research, may soon become even more controversial and complex. Recent reports announced that British researchers have succeeded in combining cells from a human being with the egg cells taken from cows. And although… Read More >>
