Horizon Scanning
Horizon - Bones
Thinking I would get away from the television shows that the nation loves, asking what the future holds for bones only results in Google sites full of spoilers for next season of bones, and episodes not aired in the UK, which isn’t something I wanted.
Research found at: http://discovermagazine.com/2010/oct/12-most-important-science-trends-30-years/article_view?b_start:int=1&-C=
So since I have gone through each section looking at how our bones once were, i decided to go back to this part of my research, and there was one thing that really caught my eye in research. And that was dinosaurs! I thought this would be a perfect start to this horizon scanning section!
But what could we achieve with dinosaurs in the next year?
“DNA from preserved Apatosaurus fossils, which were on display at the university’s museum of natural science. Once the DNA was harvested, scientists injected it into a fertile ostrich womb”.
Well, apparently we might be hearing the pitter patter of tiny dinosaur feet later this year. The ostrich was injected with the DNA August 11th 2011, and is being incubated in Florida.
You know that the research is all for science, right? With the scientist saying:
“Within ten years, we could repopulate the world with dinosaurs,” he said. “We could harvest them for civic service, law enforcement, or even mass transportation.”
“Imagine riding to work on a dinosaur,”
Let’s see how long it takes after the birth of the little dinosaur before PETA jump on it and slate the research.
From Bones, to the structure of our bodies, DNA to be exact.
A strange thing that scientists believe can be cured is the control over our addictions.
“Rimonabant worked in part by reducing appetite, and the company claimed it could also treat addiction, harmful cholesterol, and diabetes”.
With such huge claims June 2006 pharmaceutical giant Sanofi-Aventis began selling drugs to stop you from feeling hungry and begin to aid weight loss, which is a big step being able to control the body like this and create forced feelings to stop you feeling hungry.
With the new type of drug tested on rats and mice it shows that they are not getting side effects like the previous attempts have shown, which shows a giant step forward, if they can isolate this we can have pills and drugs that are not addictive, and with no side effects which lead to better treatment, and with understanding like this of addictions, cravings and other neurological processes, who knows what else we can achieve.
This came with a price though:
“900 reports of nausea, depression, and other side effects”.
This was the huge draw back to the drug, making it be pulled and completely re invented. This is where the future comes in, they recently came back with a drug where there are no side effects, working with mice
“AM6545 enabled mice and rats to lose weight without inducing signs of depression or nausea”.
With a bright outlook and scientists looking very confident with the work they are producing.
“A whole new class of drugs that combat pain, inflammation, metabolic disorders, and more. “I’m convinced that in the next five years we shall have more drugs for the endocannabinoid system,”
This quote and report was published last year. So although it is a little out of the year bracket for this area of research, it’s worth mentioning due to the huge breakthroughs they have made already.
“In the late 1960s, medical researchers developed a way to find genetic defects in a fetus as young as 15 weeks”
This is the quote where I shall start my next area of research into DNA and changes made by science.
This was the starting point for many as they looked into research to help children while still unborn in the womb, people saw the horrors that can happen in the womb, and saw miscarriage and disease early in life to be the main focal point, if they can treat a child in the womb perhaps they can actually save children and parents from torment and fear.
Miscarriages put families through a lot and for one scientist is was a wakeup call, making him want to look into and research this field:
“I saw these invasive procedures done to my wife and our unborn kids, and thought, there’s got to be a better way,”
Scientists thought like this and strived to find a way to test unborn children, so they could eventually help and ease the pain of the mother and father, being able to do something about a child in the womb so, in the likelihood there is something wrong they can treat it and make it right.
“We plan to diagnose things like phenylketonuria, where the cure is as simple as avoiding certain foods. It would be a big improvement over figuring it out after birth in the hospital.”
Starting off with bigger more detectable and treatable disease they can hope to push forward to more minor cases in child defects.
With these types of development, you can actually see what is wrong with a child before it is born, and see how you can help your baby before it is physically born.
And with such huge development in this amazing science they think that they will be able to test everyone wide spread and not just monitored tests as soon as:
“By 2017, they believe”
But scientists go one further. Some say a little too far in fact.
“Couples routinely choose the sex of their new baby and are able to carefully screen egg and sperm donors, but many say this advancement takes it too far”.
Couples at this moment in time can actually screen their baby, and say whether they want a boy or a girl, its one thing to be able to cure a baby of an ailment, but for someone to actually decide its future and design it like a teddy, then threes something strange that is going to begin happening.
Like designer dogs, children will start coming out “perfect” perhaps they will start fetus tattoos and piercings for those who like them.
“But many say this advancement takes it too far”.
Which is understandable, who knows how far people will go, and well Steinberg goes on to say:
“Steinberg says that designing your baby is on the verge of becoming reality”.
What a lovely image to put forth.
From all this poking and prodding around in the womb it was only a matter of time until social aspects starting to affect the unborn child.
Monitoring the unborn children one scientist believes he has found that children in the womb can socialise. Yes I said it. Apparently they re act with their surroundings, and themselves.
They carried out experiments on sets of twins in the womb.
“When reaching toward the co-twin—especially around the eyes and mouth—their motion was relatively slow and delicate. When the foetuses touched themselves, on the other hand, they were less cautious”
The scientist Umberto Castiello is now looking into how he can apply this to more and more children in the womb, i wouldn’t be surprised that in the coming year they have full understanding of the 9 months in the womb.
But now they have found out that unborn children can interact with people, the next step is obviously a face book account for their unborn child so they can interact with all their internet friends...
“Facebook Lets Expectant Parents Add Unborn Children to Friends & Family”
Oh never mind.
But it’s ok, we are going to need babies to be created in a different more scientific way, as apparently were going to become robots:
“Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed an aluminium steel foam using a combination of powder and cast metal that has a similar elasticity to bone”
I think like me they have read too many Xmen comics, and thought wolverine was a damn good idea.
“The rough surface of the foam would also foster bone growth into the implant, improving the strength of implant”.
With the research coming out in 2010, scientists have begun work by putting the foam into bones, applying them to people whose bones can reject certain materials:
“Bone rejection can result from more rigid implant materials, such as titanium”
With what they are doing with bones and the human body these days I wouldn’t be surprised if people went in to hospital with a broken bone and came out with a whole new robotic arm.
It seems that with new skeletons being formed from bone and steel foam, we may be able to live forever as scientists have grown something a little strange in their labs recently.
“New discoveries in the scientific community are quickly advancing the ability to not only replace organs, but grow them from a patient’s own unique cells”.
Growing organs that can be used in place of failing organs, meaning that donors soon will not be needed, and with the huge developments and growth they have so far, people in the next year may be walking round with organs grown like plants, instead of waiting around for someone to die.
