The first face transplant was done in France in November, too late for our last issue. It is now “old” news, but is worthy of mention not only as a major milestone in the progression of microsurgery but also because it is one more step in the direction of “superhealth.” This particular procedure raised ethical […]

The Advisory Board sees a revolution in spinal surgery, though not for another 15 years. The acceleration in the understanding of genetic and proteomic mechanisms of cells, perhaps more evident in this issue of Health Futures Digest than in any previous one, makes 15 years seem somewhat pessimistic. For sure, revolutions in other therapies will […]

The latest in bionic arms, connected in a roundabout way to the brain, is providing an unprecedented degree of freedom to its wearer. It has been discovered that the neural chip implants that interface such prosthetics with the brain eventually cause the brain itself to accept the prosthetic as an integral part of the body. […]

Japanese researchers appear to have cured a diabetic patient by transplanting pancreatic cells from a living donor. (Cells from cadaver organs have previously been successfully used.) A less traumatic approach may be to re-engineer neurons taken from aborted fetuses and turn them into insulin-producing islet cells. Injected into normal mice, such cells produced insulin in […]

Sabotage DNA to Treat Cancer; Cancer Vaccines Re-invigorated; Electrostim Therapy; Gene Therapy — Optic Nerve Regeneration; Genetic Cure for Deaf Hamsters; GM Potato Prevents Hepatitis B; Nanomedicine Roundup; Nocturnal Dialysis; Pharmacogenomic Map; Brain-Machine Interface; Brain Stem Cell Therapy; Stem Cell Advance at ACT; Stem Cells in Reconstructive Surgery; Stem Cells Inject New Life into Xenotransplantation; […]

A polymer-based therapy for spinal cord injuries may be ready for market in about five years. It is an interesting and less controversial potential alternative to stem cell therapies for spinal cord injuries. Another is a silicon neural net intended to augment the natural networks of neurons in the spinal cord that control walking. The […]

RNA interference (RNAi), we noted in December 2003, offered remarkable promise. Now, for the first time in a live animal, a “simple” RNAi therapy has essentially cured mice of a disease similar to Huntington’s, and it could work against Alzheimer’s, too. If it can be successfully applied to humans, RNAi therapy will represent a revolution […]

The US government has put aside its War on Castro to enable promising Cuban cancer �vaccines� to be further developed in the US. The wife of one cancer vaccine trial patient said: “We know it’s not a cure, but if we could get five years, maybe there will be a cure around then.” The point […]

New York cyborgs are reaping substantial benefits from their implanted “brain pacemakers” in the form of significant relief of Parkinson’s and other tremors. Epileptic cyborgs implanted with similar technology are proving that thought control of remote objects is getting closer to becoming a real therapeutic tool. Even before “telehaptics” (transmitting the sense of touch remotely) […]

Several technologies have been claimed recently as “transforming medicine” and “changing the world.” They include molecular imaging, which is only a few years away from being used in humans. When you align its diagnostic prowess with a menu of highly specific therapies — some of which have already emerged — “That’s the kind of thing […]