For more than 20 years, the main choice for breast implants has been some form of silicone rubber. Recent cancer research suggests nanotechnology may make breast implants safer as an alternative to silicone. Approximately 75 percent of post-mastectomy patients choose some form of breast reconstruction. While no medical device is free of risks, silicone breast implants still present a relatively high level of risk. This makes nanotechnology a promising alternative.

Similarly, nanotechnology may speed up recovery after breast reduction. Recovery from plastic surgery of any type has its risks. A University of Akron study suggests that nanotechnology produces additional properties that offer additional medical benefits patients cannot get from silicone or other traditional procedures. Some of the potential dangers of silicone materials include a greater instance of various forms of cancer, systemic diseases and psychological diseases. Dr. Judit E. Puskas, who led the study at the University of Akron, believes that nanostructured material may eliminate such risks and present a safer alternative to silicone-based breast implants.

Dr. Laura Kruper of the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California is among doctors pointing out the psychological benefits of reconstruction following a mastectomy. While expense is a concern for some women, another factor is safety. This adds to the appeal of materials constructed using nanotechnology. The idea of using nanotechnology in breast implants is to alter the characteristics of the silicone. The manipulation would take place in the atoms of the silicone. Implants with the capability of delivering chemicals may speed up the recovery process and reduce side effects following surgery and initial treatment.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States. It is the leading cause of death among women of all races. While breast cancer rates have been decreasing by about 2 percent since 2005, it is still estimated that 1 in 8 women will develop some form of breast cancer during their lifetime. This makes exploration of nanotechnology a worthwhile effort, according to Dr. Puskas and other doing similar research. The primary goal is to ensure that such technology is safe. Early research has shown promise. Some researchers have gone beyond Dr. Puskas’ early optimism and suggest that nanotechnology may result in materials that are not only safer, but materials that have the ability to deliver cancer medications more directly.

Nanostructured materials, by nature, are smaller. This includes smaller components within the material that minimizes complications. The new material will also have the ability to deliver certain cancer drugs more locally. The ability to deliver cancer drugs in this manner could help patients who have a breast reduction or have to have a mastectomy or double mastectomy due to breast cancer. Delivering cancer drugs this way could further minimize risks and side effects associated with chemotherapy. Right now, such technology is in the testing phase. The goal of nanotechnology research is to create alternatives to silicone implants that sharply reduce side effects and potential risks at the time of the implants and in the future. According to Breastcancer.org, there are about 3 million breast cancer survivors in the United States. A common concern among survivors, especially those who had some form of mastectomy or lumpectomy, is finding a way to restore the natural appearance of the breast.

Some women express a hesitation to get breast implants following breast cancer due to a fear that the implants themselves will cause additional medical problems. According to a study of breast cancer patients in California, fewer women are electing to have breast implants following mastectomy. On a nationwide level, however, statistics show that about 90 percent of women who have had a mastectomy following breast cancer choose some form of reconstruction. Nanotechnology is showing promise among all fields of science, but still must receive FDA approval to be used in breast implants. Early studies, however, are highlighting the potential of nanotechnology.

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This is the main question that is lurking the minds of biologists for quite some time now because many possibilities for the occurrence of a homosexuality gene exist. During the 1990s many researcher were studying the topic but by the end of the 20th century all such research work was slowed down as many people are shy when they are asked on topics related to sex and specially homosexuality. Scientists Sergey Gavrilets and William Rice have developed some guidelines for explaining the causes of homosexuality. During the past decade the scientists have discovered some patterns that might point to genetic causes of homosexuality. Among the discoveries the main finding was that in case of male homosexuality it seems to be inherited more from the mother than the father and the female maternal relatives of gay men have higher that average reproduction capacity. Another shocking discovery was that the chances of homosexuality increases in males with the number of older brothers he has even if the child has grown up away from his brothers. The reason for this is that the with each male fetus the mother develops an increased immunization to an antigen that is produced by male fetuses and this antigen plays an important role in masculinizing the brain. All the studies have strong evidences that homosexuality is caused by a gene but no research has pointed to any specific gene and the idea to which each research points is towards a polymorphic gene. Rice commented that, ‘We know that homosexuality (gay or lesbian) can be caused by simple genetic changes in fruit flies, and since so many reproductive and neurological genes are shared by flies and humans, it seems highly likely that there are major genes influencing homosexuality in humans, However, we also have firm evidence for a birth-order effect on male homosexuality, and discordance in the expression of homosexuality of identical twins, so clearly there is also an environmental influence on the trait.’ This research is the most guiding research on the topic, though it also has not pointed out any particular gene but this will be the backbone of all future researchers that can one day tell us the exact cause of Homosexuality.

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The specialty drugs seem to be putting pressure on insurance premiums. These drugs which are being used for treating rare diseases is building pressure on the health insurance and is making it costly for everybody. In some of the cases the cost of the treatment can touch up to $200,000 a year. These drugs are posing a challenge to every health plan in the U.S. These specialty drugs are administered in case of rare diseases and are quite costly. It has been found out that these drugs comprise around nineteen percent or $40 billion of the pharmaceutical spending and it is expected that the figures would cross $90 billion by 2009. Health insurers are promoting generic drugs but government regulators seem to be averse to the idea of generic drugs and at the end it is the patients who are left to suffer.

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Is anyway spirituality related to biotechnology? You don’t know the answer but a molecular biologist from Princeton University states that spiritual beliefs plays an important role in deciding whether people accept or reject biotechnology in the field of agriculture or medicine. Though some nations have accepted biotechnology but there are a number of those which have opposed human embryonic medical therapies. Non Christian nations in Asia are supporting human cloning whereas it is being opposed by Philippines which is dominated by Catholics. It seems that non Christians are against agricultural biotechnology whereas stem cell is being opposed by Christians. The general opinion is that making changes to the life form created by god is wrong and one cannot go against the nature. It seems that an unending debate is going on between the people who are for and against the technology and god has been unwillingly made a party to it.

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Celebrex from Pfizer has received the approval from federal advisers for marketing it for children suffering from devastated form of arthritis even though there was a split opinion on this issue. Celebrex is a painkiller from the stable of Pfizer. Besides this a recommendation was also made for monitoring the effect of the dug for a number of years. Now the FDA needs to weigh the recommendations of the panel regarding approval of the drug. Though FDA is not bound to follow the advice of the expert panel but generally it does. Before this the advisory committee had given approval for the drug in treating juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The panel had stated that Pfizer should undertake a long term study of the safety of the drug by creation of a registry which would require it to be tracked for a period of ten to twenty years. What got the drug approval was the fact that the benefits outweighed the risks.

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Two molecules occurring naturally in blood have been combined by researchers for engineering a molecular complex using solar energy for splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. Energy is used from the sun for creating hydrogen gas which would serve as an alternative for electrolysis. This is an important development as it could also help in creating future fuel for the earth in the form of hydrogen gas. This finding has been reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Dr Stephen Curry who was part of the research stated: It’s very exciting to prove that we can use these biological structures as a conduit to harness solar energy to separate water out into hydrogen and oxygen. In the long term, these synthetic molecules may provide a more environmentally friendly way of producing hydrogen, which can be used as a ‘green’ fuel This study has shown that molecules within the human body could be used for the welfare of the mankind and if successful it could help in solving the growing needs of planet earth.

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Researchers have found out that brain cells resulting from human embryonic stem cells resulted in the improvement of conditions of rats suffering from Parkinson but a problem was faced with regards to the eruption of brain tumor. After coming across this problem researchers are working to find a solution for it. This was found out by researchers of the University of Rochester Medical Center. Steven Goldman, professor at the University said: The results are a real cause for optimism. These animals with severe Parkinson’s symptoms had a dramatically improved outcome after treatment. Now we have a new problem to work on, how to achieve the same benefit without creating tumors. But we expect to be able to solve this problem within the next year or two, using new approaches to cell sorting that we’ve been developing This seems to be an important development and if the researchers can come out with a solution for this problem then they certainly have treatment in hand for Parkinson.

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Researchers from U.K have discovered something which could help in finding out how cystic fibrosis progresses. They have found out that patients suffering from cystic fibrosis had a very high distribution of two proteins in their lungs and airways. These proteins have been found out to play a vital role in the immune system of the body. The findings are in the preliminary stages but this is an important discovery and it could play a vital role in sorting out the role of the immune system in the case of cystic fibrosis which is known to shorten the life of the patient. During the study, tissues of twenty one end stage patients were compared and who were to go for transplantation. During the study, tissue samples were studied from upper airway of the lungs.

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Now very soon it would be possible to image blood vessels and destroy malignant cells in a single integrated system. This system has been created by researchers at Stanford University in which nanoparticles have been designed with a dual function and also offers the benefit of being non toxic and water soluble. Consisting of iron cobalt alloy surrounded by a thin shell of graphic carbon, this nanoparticle has a strong magnetic property which offers high magnetic resonance imaging contrast. Having a graphic shell ensures that the iron cobalt core remains protected and gets functionalized besides absorbing near infrared light. This could certainly help in generating localized heat and trigger therapeutic effect which could help in destroying cancer cells.

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GM crops have received a major setback in Hungary. In a recent development, parliament of Hungary is backing an amendment which poses restrictions on the conditions under which GM crops can be planted. As per the new law a four hundred meter buffer zone would have to be created to avoid cross pollination. Landowners would have to get an approval before planting these crops. This decision has angered the crop producers. On the other hand Jozsef Graf, agriculture minister of Hungary stated that since it is one of the strictest GMO laws of Europe therefore producers seem to be upset by it. This law might certainly upset the chances of Hungary to emerge as a leading regional agricultural producer.

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Soybean is a very important crop and researchers have plans for the next hundred years to work on the genetic code of this crop in order to produce better soybean crop. Already this crop has benefited from biotechnology when roundup resistant varieties were introduced in 1996. The first generation of the crop yielded good results and now it’s becoming a bit difficult to achieve the results of second generation. Monsanto is working around with its technical expertise for creation of second generation roundup resistance varieties and this is expected to improve the productivity with three to five extra bushels per acre. This new crop is expected by the year 2009. This variety would be resistant to Dicamba herbicide. The company is working quite hard to increase the yield of the crop and it’s quite difficult as it is a complex process involving multiple genes but this is expected to bring a drastic change in the productivity of soybeans.

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There is some good news for people suffering from obesity. Researchers at the University of California have discovered a small molecule which could play a pivotal role in controlling diabetes which is a slow killer disease and help in development of treatment for adult onset diabetes. Called as Boc5, this molecule leads to stimulation of insulin function in response to high glucose levels. It has also been found out to bring down the weight of a person by nearly twenty percent. This molecule leads to the production of intestinal hormone which metabolizes glucose. It is being labeled as the first small molecule activator for Class B GPCRs which leads to regulation of hormones in a number of human physiological processes. The discovery of Boc5 has opened up new avenues for supporting future research. It is expected that this molecule will help in controlling both diabetes and obesity which are some of the silent killer diseases.

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Most of the developing economies around the world have better crop productivity but seems to be lacking behind in the productivity of livestock. Livestock has an important part to play in the agriculture sector but most of the developing economies have a poor genetic potentiality of indigenous animals and this is causing a lot of problems in the development of live stock in the country. If the productivity is to be improved it would only be possible through genetic improvements of indigenous stock. Animal biotechnology has opened up a number of ways for improving livestock. A number of countries are deploying biotechnology through embryo transfer technology, stem cell biology, proteomics and genomics, bioinformatics, bioinformatics and a number of other technologies. This field is a knowledge driven technology and it requires new ideas and concepts for developing new tools and processes for innovative models. If benefit is to be derived from the field of animal biotechnology then a pool of talent is required from a number of disciplines such as chemistry, microbiology, bioinformatics, biofinancing and bioenterprise.

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Brain cancer cells can be killed dramatically by blocking genetic threads in the rich tapestry of cancer-causing biochemical signals with a statin and an experimental anti-tumor drug. Though the pairing of cholesterol-lowering lovastatin and cyclopamine is unlikely, it is found to be able to eventually kill 63 percent of lab-grown medulloblastoma cells, compared to just 20 percent of cells been killed when either agent are used alone. It is by blocking the so-called “hedgehog” pathway, the Cyclopamine works. It is long known for promoting and guiding the growth of cell and organ. With excessive growth being the chief characteristic of cancer, blocking the hedgehog with cyclopamine makes cancer cells more susceptible to lovastatin, the investigators believe. The researchers concludes that the killing of the tumor cells by the new find combo is tantalizing, although the cyclopamine-lovastatin combination has yet to be tested in animals, much less people. These findings by the Hopkins researchers are published in the January issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

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Worried about wrinkles on your skin and can’t stand them? You are not the only one facing this problem as millions of women around the world are struggling with it. Now here comes DermaLastyl-B which is being regarded as the first anti aging face cream which can help in addressing the inability of the body to replenish the quality of declining skin. Tests conducted with this cream showed that DermaLastyl-B if applied daily helped in offering protection against elastin loss coming with the normal aging process. If applied during adulthood it can help in maintaining the level of elastin in the skin. It is a gentically engineered human elastin precursor which can help in restoring the elastic properties of the skin and therefore prevent the use of botox injections of painful cosmetic surgery for this purpose. DermaLastyl-B comprises of a complex chain of more than six hundred amino acids which can help in preventing the onsets of wrinkles.

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