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
 |
Bioreactor Helps Legless Frogs Get Their Jump Back
Legless frogs, they're everywhere. Now, though, a Tufts team of human scientists is trying to make it up to them with partial hindlimb regeneration. They should put it on Kickstarter (heh).
(Regeneration tech takes a leap forward)
Researchers led by Tufts University biologists and engineers have found that delivering progesterone to an amputation injury site can induce the regeneration of limbs in otherwise non-regenerative adult frogs—a discovery that furthers understanding of regeneration and could help advance treatment of amputation injuries. The researchers created a wearable bioreactor attached to the wound site to deliver the progesterone locally for a 24-hour period and observed that it had a lasting beneficial effect on tissue regrowth, allowing the frogs to partially regenerate their hind-limbs. A mere 24 hour of exposure led to 9 months of changes in gene expression, innervation, and patterned growth. The finding, published today in Cell Reports, suggests the drug-device combination could be a new model for systematically testing and deploying therapeutic cocktails that could induce regeneration in non-regenerative species...The wearable bioreactor delivering the progesterone was developed in the laboratory of David Kaplan, Ph.D, Stern Family Professor of Engineering and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts’ School of Engineering and director of the Initiative for Neural Science, Disease & Engineering at Tufts. The device contains a silk protein-based hydrogel which is applied directly to the wound and is capable of delivering small molecule compounds to the site. Future experiments will explore additional factors that can enhance or improve upon the effects of progesterone.
Apparently, it really kind of works.
Science fiction authors love this idea, because their protagonists can take an incredible amount of damage, and still heal. Like Johnny Rico, in the movie version of Robert Heinlein's classic Starship Troopers:
I'd also call out the Gobathian from Clifford Simak's wonderful 1961 novel Time is the Simplest Thing.
And, now that I think about it, Star Wars technology included the bacta tank for wound healing.
(Star Wars bacta tank)
Via Tufts; thanks to Winchell Chung (@nyrath) of Atomic Rockets, the hard sf writer's tech support.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 11/3/2018)
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 ")
MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'- Alfred Bester, 1956.
Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans
'... drugged and chilled and stowed in sleep tanks.' - Robert Heinlein, 1951.
Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans
'We want to do something to help those who are suffering from tooth loss or absence,' said lead researcher Katsu Takahashi.
Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI
'Stasis, cold sleep, hibernation, hypothermia, reduced metabolism, call it what you will - the logistics-medicine research teams had found a way to stack people like cordwood and use them when needed.' - Robert Heinlein, 1956
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
Miss Alabama Beauty Contest Offers Different Standards
'...they moved with the ease of dandelion puffs.'
Has Musk Given Up On Full Self Driving (FSD)?
'...some bored drone pusher in a remote driving centre...'
Prufrock-3 'The Monster' Ready To Launch
Just go for it.
Drones In Vast Airborne Grids
'These pods were programmed to hang in space in a hexagonal grid pattern...'
Starship Special Edition For Lunar Shuttle
Love those special edition spaceships.
Capturing Asteroids With Nets
'...the meteor caught and halted just as a small boy catches a swift ball in his cap.'
Project Hyperion - Generation Ship Designers Needed!
'We have decided that it shall be but one ship... it must contain everything needed to take us through the generations.'
AI Welfare Position At Anthropic Filled By Human
'You’re the robopsychologist of the plant, so you’re to study the robot itself...'
Marslink Proposed By SpaceX
'It was the heart of the Solar System's communication line...'
Simple Way To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'... designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Wood-Panelled LignoSat Launched
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
Laser-Beam Welding In Orbital Factories
'His contract with Space Industries required him to work summers in their orbital factory.'
'Iceberg House' Of Travis Kelce Reflects Science Fiction Of Past Century
'The basement was huge... carved deep into the rock that folded up to underlie the ridge...'
Mechazilla Arms Catch A Falling Starship, But Check Out SF Landing-ARMS
'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
Robot Hand Separate From Robot
'The crawling, exploring object was V-Stephen's surgeon-hand...'
