Science and Technology Current Affairs September 2015

Almost ‘Fully-Formed’ Brain Grown in Lab for the First Time

• For the very first time, almost fully-formed human brain has been grown in a lab. This invention helps in better understanding of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The brain is comparable to that of a five-week-old fetus.
• The brain is about the size of a pencil eraser. It was, created by a research team at Ohio State University (USA), Columbus. Their work was presented at the Military Health System Research Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (USA), on August 18, 2015.
• The brain was engineered from human skin cells, and is the most complete human brain ever to be created in a laboratory. The creation process involved converting the skin cells into pluripotent cells.

Scientists Find Way to Make Carbon Nanofibres

• A team of chemists at George Washington University (USA) on August 19, 2015 have developed a technology to economically convert atmospheric C0₂ directly into highly valued carbon nanofibres for  industrial and consumer products.
• Such nanofibres are used to make strong carbon composites, such as those used in the Boeing Dreamliner, as well as in high-end sports equipment, wind turbine blades and a host of other products.
• This solar-powered system runs on few volts of electricity. When electricity is passed through a tank filled with a hot, molten salt the atmospheric C0₂ is absorbed by the fluid in the tank.

Read Also – International Current Affairs November 2015 (Part 4).

Medicine to Treat Leucoderma Developed

• A poly-herbal medicine Lukoskin for the treatment of leucoderma (white patches on skin) has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The technology of the herbal product has been transferred to AIMIL Pharmaceutical Private Limited for commercial production and marketing.
• The poly-herbal formulation comprises of ointment and oral dose. The ointment has seven ingredients of plants having properties such as skin photo sensitiser, anti-blister, anti-irritation, anti-septic, wound healing and copper supplementing properties. The oral dose has been formulated to check the emergence of new spots.

USFDA Approved New Anti-Epilepsy Pill

• The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the sale of an anti-epilepsy pill named Spritam as on August 5, 2015 * It is manufactured by Aprecia Pharmaceuticals with a three-dimensional (3D) printer. It will reach the market in early 2016.
• ZipDose 3D printing technology is used in manufacturing Spritam. A detailed porous structure is made by this 3D technology, which allows the pill to dissolve faster while delivering up to 1000 mg of medication in a single dose.
• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was the first institution who developed Powder-liquid three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology in 1980s. Aprecia started developing ZipDose 3 DP technology in 2007.

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