4th Day Of Christmas: Four Scientific Discoveries In 2016

Three-parent babies

The UK has given the go ahead to a treatment that will make it possible for babies to be born from two people with eggs and one with sperm. The new advancement in in vitro fertilization, will try to prevent children being born with fatal genetic diseases.

The first child to be born in the UK through the new method could arrive by the end of 2017. However, the a Jordanian couple claim that their 8-month old baby was actually conceived through this method, treated by a US-based team in Mexico. The procedure allows the donation of mitochondria, which provides energy for cells, to mothers with mutations within the DNA of their own mitochondria so they do not pass the mutations on to their child.[1]

Quadriplegic Man Moves His Fingers After A Chip Is Implanted In His Brain.

Six years ago, he was paralyzed in a diving accident. These day's he's taking place in clinical sessions for a study from The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. The device is called NeuroLife; a tiny computer chip implanted into the participant's brain.

That participant, Ian Burkhart, is a 24-year-old quadriplegic from Dublin, Ohio, and the first person to use this technology. This device for spinal cord injuries reconnects the brain directly to muscles, allowing voluntary and functional control of a paralyzed limb by using his thoughts. [2]

Source: The Unlimited Mind

Greenland Shark Lives Up To 400 Years

Greenland sharks live at least as long as 400 years, and they reach sexual maturity at the age of about 150, a new study reports. The results place Greenland sharks as the longest-lived vertebrates on Earth. With extremely slow growth rates, at about 1 cm per year, their analysis suggests an average lifespan of at least 272 years. [3]

Aging Reversal In Mice

Scientists use a new form of gene therapy to partially reverse aging in mice through systemic cellular reprogramming, according to a new study. After six weeks of treatment, the animals looked younger, had straighter spines and better cardiovascular health, healed quicker when injured, and lived 30% longer.[4]

We wonder what exciting/weird/terrifying discoveries await us in 2017!

Sources:

[1] https://www.newscientist.com/article/2107219-exclusive-worlds-first-baby-born-with-new-3-parent-technique/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/15/health/babies-three-people-embryos/index.html

[2]

https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/mediaroom/pressreleaselisting/device-allows-paralyzed-man-to-swipe-credit-card-perform-other-movements

[3]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160811143218.htm

[4]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/12/161215143541.htm

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