Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Separate Parasites From Hosts - With Light
It's difficult to study a parasite with a complex life-cycle, one that alternates between free-living creature and cell-enclosed parasite. Separating a parasite from its host cell is extremely difficult.
(Electron micrographs [low res on left side] show dark
Leishmania parasites distinguished from host cells)
However, researchers have devised a strategy in which special fluorescent Leishmania mexicana parasites have been developed for study. When infected cells are passed through a machine to separate cell components based on how much they glow, researchers were able to gather Leishmania parasites with only 2% contamination, making study easier.
SF authors have been thinking about how light might be used to decontaminate crew members exposed to exotic organisms. In Star Trek Enterprise, decontamination chambers used light and topical skin gels.
(Starfleet decontamination chamber)
Thankfully, this method became obsolete as transporter biofilters came into wide use in the 23rd and 24th centuries. What a relief!
Author Robert J. Sawyer uses a tuned-laser decontamination process in his 2003 novel Hybrids (Neanderthal Parallax).
Readers may not be aware that pulse laser systems have been used to attack unwanted cells, cells that have not been specially developed for researcher. See Forced Resonance Ultra-Short Pulse Laser Kills Viruses Dead and Raydiance USP Laser Attacks Unwanted Cells for more information.
From Eurekalert; thanks to Moira for writing in with this one.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/24/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Medical ")
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
Health Kiosk Has No Human Doctor
'The electronic body analyzer had been developed...' - Michael Crichton, 1969.
NEO Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
'The remains of the lace took on the rough shape of a brain...' - Iain Banks, 2010.
MIT Computerized Bionic Leg Is Part Of The User
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain, through the mediation of the electronic brain in the leg.' - Charles Recour, 1949.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Factories In The Sky Will Surpass Those Of Earth
'The thirty-odd miles of The Factory’s circumference...'
Sleeper Drones Lie in Wait
'Wandering mines, you took them out on the edge of the desert, set them down and activated them.'
Warfare Goes Underground In Ukraine
'Once in the very first weeks of the war, before everyone had been evacuated from the surface...'
3D Printed Organs From Space
'For a while your colonists will have to come up to the [orbital] Hospital...'
Robot Bees 3D Printed By Festo
'At first I was struck by the large size of these bees..'
DIY Robot Scorpion Crushes It
'...it raised its front end off the ground and waved its antennae at them, then raised one armoured claw as if to snip them out of the sky.'
How To Settle An Argument Between Two Robots
'Henry... assumed the curious absent look of a robot talking on the TBR circuits.'
The Wind Phone Calls Those Who Have Passed On
'Only I heard that!'
Don't Want To Wear A TIght Shiny Bodysuit?
'He looked a good bit like an elderly, fat beetle.'
Light Society: Simulates Earth-Scale Society With A Billion AI Agents
'The king, an old hand in the running of tyrannies, instantly grasped the directions...'
Satyress Centaur Robot Horror Reminds Everyone Of Something
'Fess was very dutiful'
When Colds Threaten You Can't Do This - Or Can You?
'...a hemispherical force field enclosing his head.'
Beautiful Visualization of Dawn Spacecraft
'Then he became aware of a gentle pressure pushing him away from the ship.'
Biological War: A Scenario
'And now they wre busily transforming all their companions, and so on, and so on...'
Pole-Dancing Stripperbot Robot
'Why, a clockwork dancer, or, better still, one that would go by electricity and never run down...'
Collective Superintelligence Is At Hand!
'Maybe the individual intelligence of each Cubic pools into a group intelligence...'
