Medical advancements that sound like science fiction

Medical advancements that sound like science fiction

Young blood for old brains
Can the aging process be delayed using the blood of young people? One study from the Stanford School of Medicine found that the blood of young mice can be used to restore mental capabilities in older mice. 

“There are factors present in blood from young mice that can recharge an old mouse’s brain so that it functions more like a younger one,”  researcher Dr. Tony Wyss-Coray said in a press release. “We’re working intensively to find out what those factors might be and from exactly which tissues they originate."

Wyss-Coray thinks this new knowledge could help Alzheimer's patients and hopes to test the study's findings through a clinical trial. 


Glasses that can see cancerForget a crystal ball that can see into the future. The brainiacs at Washington University developed something even better: glasses that can see cancer.  


Artificial muscles made of fishing lineScientists at the University of Texas at Dallas stumbled upon this major discovery. They found that by twisting fishing line to the point that it turns into a coil, it essentially creates artificial muscles.

These so-called muscles can contract and lift loads 100 times heavier than human muscles of the same length and weight. There's no doubt this discovery will have an impact on robots, prosthetics and exoskeletons.


A contact lens that monitors blood sugarIf you're diabetic and tired of pricking your finger all the time, maybe you'd prefer to measure your glucose levels through your tears. Google has created a tiny chip that can be embedded in a contact lens that would do just that. It's the smallest wireless glucose sensor that has ever been made. It won't be available to the public for some time, however. 


3-D printed organsWhy wait for an organ transplant when you could have one made from your own cells on a 3-D printer? That's not a possibility now, but it could be in the future. A California biotech firm called Organovo said it hopes to print a human liver in 2014. 


Human organs grown in animalsScientists in Japan have been given the OK to implant human stem cells into animal embryos, making a human-animal hybrid, that will be used to grow human organs for harvesting.


A heart pump with no pulsePhysicians at the Texas Heart Institute have created a heart pump that keeps blood flowing like, but produces no pulse. The blood flows steady like a garden hose making it easier to keep going.


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