Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Technology is amazing. From The Economist: Fourteen years ago, Melanie Reid, a journalist, fell off a horse and broke her neck. The injury to her spinal cord left her paralysed, limiting the function of her four limbs and torso—a condition known as tetraplegia. For more than a decade her left hand was incapable of either…
The 2022 Nobel Prize for Medicine went to Svante Pääbo. Unlike many former winners of the Nobel Prize in Medicine, Dr. Pääbo never actually invented any specific medicine or class of medicine. Rather the award was given “for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution”. The press release from the Nobel…
When cells become specialized cells (e.g., blood cells, bone cells, sex cells), are these cells fixed and immutable? In the past, researchers though the answer was yes. It turns out, that cells can draw on their DNA to become amazingly flexible. This breakthrough is due in large part for this year’s Nobel Prize winners, Sir…
I recently finished reading a great book by William Bynum called The History of Medicine: A Very Short Introduction. The book does just what it says: provides a great introduction to the history of medicine. It is concise and interesting throughout. The contents are divided into six chapters: Medicine at the bedside Medicine in the…
The 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine was given to three European researchers who discovered viruses that cause cervical cancer and AIDS. German virologist Harald zur Hausen discovered that HPV causes cervical cancer. This discovery eventually lead to the creation of the HPV vaccine against cervical cancer. Two French virologists, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, shared the…
The work of three researchers who developed the procedure of gene targeting have won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Medicine. The winners are: Mario R. Capecchi (USA, born Italy). Has used gene targeting to uncover the role of genes involved in organ development, and the overall plan of the body. Martin J. Evans (UK). Used…