Bioengineer: the heart is one of the easiest organs to bioprint, we'll do it in a decade

A team of cardiovascular scientists has announced it will be able to 3D print a whole heart from the recipients' own cells within a decade.

"America put a man on the Moon in less than a decade. I said a full decade to provide some wiggle room," Stuart K Williams told Wired.co.uk.

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Williams is heading up the hugely ambitious project as executive and scientific director of the Cardiovascular Innovation Institute at the University of Louisville. Throughout his prestigious career spanning four decades he has focused on researching surgical devices and bioengineering, and the idea for printing the heart whole from scratch was inspired by the work of one of the pioneers in both these fields -- Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh might be best known for flying solo across the Atlantic and for the Crime of the Century (when his infant son was kidnapped and murdered) but he also created a glass perfusion pump with Alexia Carrel that would keep the human heart alive outside the body, paving the way for heart surgery. The pair also discussed regenerative medicine in their book The Culture of Organs.

"For bioprinting it is the end of the beginning as bioprinted structures are now under intense study by biologists"

Stuart K Williams, Cardiovascular Innovation Institute

Some 70 plus years after the publication of that book, Williams' predictions shouldn't sound all that incredulous, but he admits it's been met with resistance. "That's why we are excited," he tells Wired.co.uk. "Funding is very limited as this is a new area. But as bioprinting successes occur the interest will increase and then funding -- so many breakthroughs have occurred in this way with a new untested idea that is moved forward with limited resources.

"For bioprinting it is the end of the beginning as bioprinted structures are now under intense study by biologists."

Read more: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-11/21/3d-printed-whole-heart

Carbohydrates rot the brain': Neurologist slams grains as 'silent brain killers' - and says we should be eating a high-fat diet

Carbohydrates are rotting our brains and contributing to devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, an American neurologist has warned.

David Perlmutter, from Florida, believes that even ‘good’ carbs, such as grains, are severely affecting our brains.

And the staples of our modern diet aren’t only increasing the risk of dementia, but contributing to depression, epilepsy and headaches, he believes.

Instead of munching on wheat, carbs and sugar,which he calls the brain’s silent killers, we should revert back to the way our ancestors ate – with more meat and fat.

As Forbes magazine reports: ‘It’s in the food you eat,’ he writes in his best new book, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar – Your Brain’s Silent Killers. ‘The origin of brain disease is in many cases predominantly dietary.’

The solution? Going back to the days when our diet was mainly fat – with this making up 75 per cent of our diet, and carbs just 5 per cent. Protein intake should stay the same as it is, at about 20 per cent.

Research has shown that a high-carb diet may increase the risk of dementia. A study published in Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that elderly people who ate a high-carb diet were more than three times as likely to develop mild cognitive impairment – which has been linked with a higher risk of dementia.

People whose diets were highest in ‘good’ fats, such as those found in nuts and healthy oils were 42 per cent less likely to get cognitive impairment. Those with a high intake of protein (such as meat and fish) had a reduced risk of 21 per cent.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2509255/Carbs-rot-brain-Doctor-slams-grains-silent-brain-killers.html#ixzz2l1arHAN0

Scientists are left baffled by mind-bending animated optical illusion

Scientists are left baffled by mind-bending animated optical illusion

Are the dots moving straight or wriggling?

Are the dots moving straight or wriggling? Click on this to see: Scientists are left baffled by mind-bending animated optical illusion

Focus on the red cross while the dots are moving around.

You're probably seeing the dots wriggling around in different directions.

But in reality they’re moving in straight trajectories without ever colliding.

To convince your brain, focus on one dot without looking at the red cross and you will see it moving in a straight line.

Scientists at Keio University in Japan found that if white circles on a black field are moved in straight lines and allowed to cross, they appear to move in straight lines.

But if those lines avoided intersections, the dots appear to wriggle around instead.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2507097/Are-dots-moving-straight-wriggling-Click-Scientists-left-baffled-mind-bending-animated-optical-illusion.html#ixzz2kdgHOthK

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Natural Alternatives: Britain pays mothers to breastfeed under pilot scheme

New mothers in two areas of Britain are to be paid to breastfeed their babies, it was announced Tuesday, under a trial scheme aimed at boosting the practice in poor areas where it is "stigmatised".

Mums in Derbyshire, central England, and its neighbour South Yorkshire, will be offered shopping vouchers worth £120 ($200, 140 euros) if they breastfeed for the first six weeks, rising to £200 if they continue for six months.

Some 130 women from deprived areas will take part in the pilot scheme, which aims to establish whether financial incentives can boost a practice believed to bring significant health benefits to newborn babies.

"The UK has one of the worst breastfeeding rates in the world and breastfeeding rates vary very widely across different parts of the country," said Clare Relton of Sheffield University, which is running the pilot in collaboration with the government.

"Babies who are breastfed have fewer health problems such as upset tummies and chest infections, and are less likely to develop diabetes and obesity when they are older."

A six-week-old baby born into an affluent family in Britain is four times more likely to be breastfed than one in a deprived area, she added.

Britain's National Health Service recommends that mothers feed their babies only breast milk for the first six months -- but this only happens in 34 percent of cases, according to Relton.

Read more: http://www.france24.com/en/20131112-britain-pays-mothers-breastfeed-under-pilot-scheme