new medicine
Dwarf Village May Hold Clues to Cure Cancer - FoxNews.com
Scientists are trying to determine whether a group of dwarfs in Ecuador -- all of them living in a remote village on the slopes of the Andes Mountains -- could hold the clues to cure cancer. The members of the group, about 100 of them closely studied by researchers from the University of Southern California, almost never get cancer or diabetes. And they all suffer from mutated genes that lower their growth hormone activity, stunting their growth.
17 February 2011 Last updated at 15:33 ET By Neil Bowdler Science reporter, BBC News, Washington DC Watch the prototype wheelchair in action Thought-controlled wheelchairs and nerve-controlled prosthetic arms are some of the latest innovations in bionics being discussed at a science conference in Washington. The wheelchair can be directed by brain signals detected using a cap fitted to the user and is the work of scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland (EPFL). It is part of efforts to control machines directly via brain signals, which could lead to new devices for the paralysed and disabled. Nerve surgery
Thought-controlled wheelchairs and bionics that 'feel'
The problem with organ transplants is that the organ has to come from someone else. Since most people rather fancy their hearts and lungs, getting any organ other than a kidney usually requires the difficult combination of donor consent and timely death.