The power of online gamers harnessed to predict complex protein structures: Three-dimensional structures of proteins are determined by their amino acid sequences, but protein structure prediction remains a complex problem that requires massive amounts of computing power. For years, people from all over the world have been donating their computers’ free processing time to Rosetta@home, which provides a screensaver that uses spare processor time to predict protein folding patterns. A group of researchers, however, thought that human intelligence might be better at solving these complex problems, so they developed a multiplayer online game, Foldit, in which accurate protein structure models are produced through gameplay. The game has an extensive motivation and reward structure with a score system, player statuses, ranks and forums. It turned out that humans were often very good at solving problems where computer algorithms would become stuck. Conversely, the computer performed better when starting from a simple linear chain of amino acids. Different players have different strengths, and by having team competitions, the game combined those strengths to get the best results. For the article published in Nature, more than 57,000 players contributed through gameplay and feedback. The authors foresee this strategy being used in other scientific domains as well where human three-dimensional structural problem solving can be used. 
Ceramic bone grafts mimic actual bone: Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London and University of Twente discovered that ceramic particles made of calcium phosphate act like signaling beacons to attract stem cells and growth factors to the site of an artificial bone graft. Calcium phosphate is the main ingredient of bone and it is hoped that it will be used as an alternative to autologous bone grafting. “Bone injuries packed with the ceramic particles healed similarly to implants constructed from the animals’ own bone,” reported University of London professor Joost de Bruijn along with collaborators from the University of Twente, Netherlands, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Concussion sensor for soldiers’ helmets: One of the big medical stories to emerge from the U.S. engagement in Iraq is the improving recognition of traumatic brain injury — largely from improvised explosive devices. European defense contractor BAE Systems unveiled its latest concussion sensor for soldier helmets, named Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic System, or HEADS. About 7,000 1st generation sensors have already been installed in helmets of U.S. military soldiers, but the new devices feature much more effective reporting capabilities that will hopefully help in getting medical attention quicker to those that need it.
A birthing centrifuge: Everyone knows that if you hold and spin an object at the end of a string fast enough, the string will break, setting the object on a free trajectory. Switch the object for a baby in the womb and the string for the umbilical cord, and you’ve got yourself an idea for a patent. Oh, you must also go back in time to 1965 and have the mind of George and Charlotte Blonsky, the inventors of “Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force (pdf).” Now, “centrifugal force” is a bit of a misnomer, since the object at the end of the string just wants to fly in a straight line but can’t due to the real centripetal force the string is exerting on it.
Not having seen one of these in our local maternity ward, this editor suspects there might have been some negative effects associated with putting something like this into practice. Perhaps it was the side effects of spinning a child as its first worldly experience (though we certainly wouldn’t have a shortage of astronauts), or maybe it was obstetricians that weren’t into experiencing high G forces on a daily basis, that shot down the project. Regardless, the march of progress is never ending yet does not follow a straight line. Maybe the inventors themselves climbed into their prototype and discovered that you might need something faster than a gentle playground spin for this to actually be remotely practical.
A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.
