Even though all the 10 scientific breakthrough's (http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2007/12/YE_10_breakthroughs) display brilliance, i found that 2 breakthroughs are really very interesting and display the humans capability to adapt and evolve to his environment.
1.Convert any Blood Group into 'O' Group
as cited in wired mag:
"In April, Henrik Clausen, a professor at the University of Denmark, published research in Nature describing a way to convert any kind of blood into Type O -- the type that almost anyone can tolerate. He discovered enzymes that shear the problem-causing sugars from the surfaces of A, B and AB type red blood cells. Produced by bacteria, the molecular machines could theoretically turn any kind of blood into Type O. Clausen and his colleagues described their search for the pacifying proteins in the April 1 issue of Nature Biotechnology."
This provides an incredible solution for the shortage of blood all over the world and also helps immensely in emergency situations, and hey.. this also marks the end of scenes in films where the 'doc' asks for blood and the hero cannot find the right kind of blood group..(:-) ).
And the invention is already taking shape as "ZymeQuest, a startup company from Massachusetts, is now developing a device that hospitals can use during blood shortages."
2.Convert Skin cells into stem cells
as cited in wired mag:
"Using a virus to reprogram skin cells, two teams of scientists managed to skirt the greatest ethical issue facing regenerative medicine -- the destruction of human embryos. Groups led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and Junying Yu of the University of Wisconsin coaxed a type of skin cell called fibroblasts into forming muscle, heart, fat and nerve tissues without using any eggs. Unfortunately, the hijacked cells often became tumors. Following up on his initial discovery this November, Yamanaka told Nature Biotechnology that by inserting three growth genes instead of four, the lab-grown flesh can be controlled without becoming cancerous."
This invention when successful would eliminate the requirement to store the stem cells and allow doc's to get stem cells when ever required, and as we know having stems cells can cure any organ with any problem. Imagine a person whose liver is damaged due to heavy drinking and his liver repaired only to allow him to drink again...(kudos to the researcher :-) ).
This provides an incredible solution for the shortage of blood all over the world and also helps immensely in emergency situations, and hey.. this also marks the end of scenes in films where the 'doc' asks for blood and the hero cannot find the right kind of blood group..(:-) ).
And the invention is already taking shape as "ZymeQuest, a startup company from Massachusetts, is now developing a device that hospitals can use during blood shortages."
2.Convert Skin cells into stem cells
as cited in wired mag:
"Using a virus to reprogram skin cells, two teams of scientists managed to skirt the greatest ethical issue facing regenerative medicine -- the destruction of human embryos. Groups led by Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and Junying Yu of the University of Wisconsin coaxed a type of skin cell called fibroblasts into forming muscle, heart, fat and nerve tissues without using any eggs. Unfortunately, the hijacked cells often became tumors. Following up on his initial discovery this November, Yamanaka told Nature Biotechnology that by inserting three growth genes instead of four, the lab-grown flesh can be controlled without becoming cancerous."
This invention when successful would eliminate the requirement to store the stem cells and allow doc's to get stem cells when ever required, and as we know having stems cells can cure any organ with any problem. Imagine a person whose liver is damaged due to heavy drinking and his liver repaired only to allow him to drink again...(kudos to the researcher :-) ).
