Stem cells may have been racing ahead into the futuristic world of 'self-transplants' over the first quarter of last year, but all was not as peachy as we had hoped: in an experiment researching this process on mice, many of the new cells were rejected. It is thought that this was due to the way they "became" stem cells (the cells were originally skin cells before being subjected to an engineered virus that changed them into pluripotent stem cells in a procedure first done in 2006). Sadly, the new research casts doubt on the viability of the use of stem cells in transplants, despite human neurons being made for the first time from induced pluripotent stem cells.
May was also a big month for palaeontology, with two main discoveries: the first ever evidence of biomineralisation (using mineral substances to form biological structures like shells, bones, hair and teeth), and the revelation that the sense of smell in mammals was what led to the increased development of our brains.
In other science: being overweight was found to make you 71% more likely to develop dementia, a material that uses titanium dioxide and sunlight to break down any organic pollutants on it and in the air around it, the space shuttle launches for the last time, and a paralysed man learns to walk again after electric impulses are applied to his spinal cord.
No comments:
Post a Comment