The idea of “thinking outside the box” is almost clichéd. But in the case of these medical researchers, it’s absolutely appropriate.
DO RABBITS REALLY NEED THIS KIND OF HELP?
In November 2009, Anthony Atala, director of Wake Forest University’s Institute of Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina, announced that his research team had made a medical breakthrough: They successfully grew rabbit penises in their laboratories. Not only that, the scientists implanted the penises onto rabbits that had damaged sexual organs. Result: The rabbits developed erections, and when placed with females…well, they did what rabbits do, and were even able to father baby rabbits. The new technique involves taking specific cells from rabbit penises, spraying them onto a frame made of collagen (the main protein found in animal connective tissue), soaking the structure in growth-inducing hormones, and “growing” the new organ in a special oven. It was, of course, for a very good cause: “One of the major challenges that we find is babies who are born with inadequate organs,” Atala said, “and right now there are not a lot of options.” His work may also lead to growing new organs—of various kinds—for humans in the not-too-distant future.
In 2009 biologists at the University of Rochester in New York announced that they may have solved a longstanding mystery involving a bizarre species of rodent: the naked mole rat. The rats, found in East Africa, have little to no hair, can live as long as 30 years, and—this is the mystery—don’t seem to get cancer. In fact, they’re the only animal known to science that doesn’t. In 2009 the Rochester team announced that they may have figured out why: Naked mole rats have a gene that makes the cells in their bodies “claustrophobic,” meaning that if cells start multiplying uncontrollably—the defining characteristic of cancer—the gene stops the multiplying long before a tumor can form. “It’s very early to speculate about the implications,” say lead researchers Vera Gorbunova and Andrei Seluanov, “but if the effect of this gene can be simulated in humans, we might have a way to halt cancer before it starts.”
The engineering division of British Rail received a patent for a flying saucer in 1973. (It doesn’t fly.)
In 2005 Ged Galvin, 55, of Barnsley, England, suffered horrific injuries when a car collided with his motorcycle. One injury affected his ability to use the bathroom: “The doctors did several operations to repair the sphincter in my bottom,” Galvin said, “but they didn’t work. They told me I’d have a colostomy bag for life.” But they were wrong. In 2009 doctors performed a complex procedure: They took a muscle from Galvin’s knee, wrapped it around his sphincter, fitted the muscle with electrodes, and programmed a remote control to contract and expand the muscles. “Now, when I want to go to the loo,” Galvin explains, “I use the remote control. They call me the man with the bionic bottom. My gratitude to the surgeons is endless because what they have done is a miracle.” He also said he’s fine with the fact that the muscles in his bionic bottom will have to be replaced every few years. (No word on whether he ever gets it mixed up with the TV remote.)
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The Image: In 2005 a photo of a kidnapped African-American soldier was posted on the Internet. He was sitting in the sand against a wall with his hands behind his back. On the wall behind him is a flag with Arabic writing on it. The barrel of an assault rifle points toward the man’s head from off camera. Underneath the picture is a statement: “Our mujahedeen heroes of Iraq’s Jihadi Battalion were able to capture American military man John Adam after killing a number of his comrades.”
The Truth: The U.S. military wasn’t missing anyone named “John Adam.” After a few hours of confusion, someone noticed that the “soldier” looked a lot like “Special Ops Cody,” a toy action figure only available at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores in the Middle East. (Only a few hundred of the African-American version of the dolls were made.) Though the photo didn’t do much to help the Jihadist effort, it did help the toy’s value skyrocket from $39 to several hundred dollars on eBay.
Economic indicators? Studies show that requests for breast implants drop sharply before a recession.