Scientists have turned human cells into complex living computers
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to turn human cells into powerful, living computing systems will revolutionise computing, energy, and healthcare, along with a myriad of other industries. Today’s computer hardware is about to get softer, a lot softer, after a research team in the US announced they’ve...
Novoheart has grown real, miniature hearts in jars that beat like the real thing
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Trying to demonstrate that new drugs don’t have any negative impacts on a patients heart is difficult, but this new technology provides research organisations with a fast, cheap way to test their new drugs without the risks. Beating rhythmically and suspended in a jar,...
World’s first stem cell bone tissue transplant is a success
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When patients loose part of a bone, for example, to Cancer, often there is no way to get the bones to grow or fuse together again resulting in amputation, this breakthrough will prevent that. Medical history was made at Emek Medical Center in Afula...
Indian regulators green light two companies to bring people back from the dead
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF New technology is pushing the boundaries on life extension, and now death, and there are an increasing number of voices that think death is no longer inevitable. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, connect, watch a keynote, or browse my...
3D printed cartilage breakthrough offers millions of suffers new hope
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Cartilage is unique in that it doesn’t grow back, leaving Arthritis patients, and cancer and injury victims with no option but surgery, now though 3D bioprinting offers them all new hope. Loosing a part of your body, such as an ear, knee or a...
Stem cell breakthrough paves the way for mass produced artificial blood
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Hundreds of millions of people each year need some form of blood transfusion and supplies are always stressed, this latest breakthrough could let doctors produce any type of blood on demand and save countless lives. Researchers at the University of Bristol (UB) have made a...
New stem cell therapy freezes Multiple Sclerosis in its tracks
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Multiple Sclerosis is a debilitating disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people worldwide, but new therapies and treatments are bringing new hope to the people affected by it. A new multiple sclerosis treatment that “resets” the human immune system has been found to “freeze”...
Scientists have developed the world’s first working artificial womb
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF In an age when we can create motherless and fatherless embryos, and where artificial humans are on the horizon, one day artificial wombs could be commonplace. In what’s considered a landmark experiment, researchers in the US and the UK have managed grow human embryos to 14...
Scientists grow the world’s first human pig chimera
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Over the next few decades self-driving cars could cause a shortage of donor organs, Chimera’s could provide doctors and patients with alternatives. Sometimes it’s hard to help but wonder what scientists would do with their time if they didn’t have stem cells to experiment...
World first as scientists use synthetic stem cells to repair a damaged heart
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Traditional stem cell therapies can often lead to cancer down the line, but NC State’s new “generic” synthetic stem cells eliminate that risk and will bring stem cell therapy to millions more people who need it. Hearts are having a busy time in the...
Scientists have grown a human stomach in a petri dish
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The more organs scientists can create outside of the human body the greater the benefits to human healthcare, this latest breakthrough takes us another step closer to realising the potential of regenerative medicine. When scientists want to understand how a drug works, they often...
Revolutionary new SkinGun fires stem cells to heal burns without scarring
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many people with secondary or third degree burns find that their lives are changed forever, now a new stem cell treatment looks like it can heal them without leaving scars. Every year over 486,000 Amercians suffer burns with over 40,000 being hospitalised and while...
In a world first scientists have reversed ageing in mice
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As more scientists treat age as a disease, not as an inevitability, we are discovering more ways to turn back the biological clock, one day these treatments might be applied to humans. Scientists in America have used cellular reprogramming to reverse the ageing process...
Accidental discovery pauses life and puts embryos into suspended animation
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to put embryos, cells, organisms and people into suspended animation could have a significant impact on anti-ageing, cancer treatments, IVF and space travel. A new study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco published in Nature this week has shown, for...
New genetic discovery will one day help humans regenerate damaged spinal chords
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The ability to regrow, repair and replace damaged parts of our bodies using Regenerative Medicine could help humans live longer, healthier lives – and it could potentially help us live forever. One of the reasons why there are so many scientists today focusing on...
Day of reckoning as UK scientists eliminate HIV from “Patient X”
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF A British man could become the first person in the world to be cured of HIV using a new therapy designed by a team of scientists from five UK universities. Around the world there are thousands of researchers and scientists trying to find a cure...
Babies from artificial eggs, researchers herald the end of mum and dad
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Researchers have shown for the first time that future generations won’t need a mum or dad. Depending on the circles you travel in it’s always been touted that men need women in order to have children but that women don’t necessarily need men, but...
New regenerative bandage heals wounds four times faster
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Bandages that not just cover a wound but that help the damaged tissue regenerate faster will help improve peoples lives and get them back to functioning normally faster. At some point in their lives, 15 percent of people with diabetes will develop a painful and...
3D printed ovaries help infertile mice give birth
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF 3D printing could give infertile couples new hope. Northwestern University scientists have created a prosthetic ovary using a 3D printer – an implant that allowed mice that had their ovaries surgically removed to bear live young and the results will be presented at the Endocrine Society’s...
