The midpoint of the year heralded the first successful human transplant of artificial tissue. The 36 year old patient was given a porous trachea soaked in his own stem cells to treat an inoperable tumour the size of a golf ball. To create an identical copy of the man's windpipe, 3D imaging software was used to create a virtual version that was transferred into a real product in Sweden.
It was also shown in July that brothers and sisters of people with autism show very similar brain activity in certain situations, notably where they are looking at people's faces. This part of the brain shows decreased activity both in people with Asperger's syndrome and also in their siblings. As the search for a possible genetic cause for autism continues, this could be used as a 'biomarker' for familial risks of the syndrome.
In other science: a trial investigating the use of stem cells to help MS patients, the earliest bird known (150 million years before Archaeopteryx) was found, and another moon of Pluto was discovered.
No comments:
Post a Comment