desertwind

PHILADELPHIA. By coincidence, biological researchers have bred mice that have the exceptional ability to regrow amputated limbs and heal serious organ and tissue damage without so much as leaving a scar. While salamanders have long been known to do this, it has never been seen in mammals, reports Wired News (September 29, 2005) Some scientists now believe people might be able to develop the same ability.
 The Wistar Institute, a research lab on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, bred mice to develop lupus, an autoimmune disease in which patients produce antibodies against their own DNA. In order to distinguish the genetically engineered mice from the control group, researchers pricked holes in the mice’s ears. But these holes appeared to heal surprisingly quickly and cleanly. In addition, the tips of their tails grew back when cut off. The scientists then changed the aim of their study. They removed limbs from the mice, damaged organs such as the heart, liver and brain, and were amazed when—in most cases—the limbs grew back and the organs healed.
 That’s not all. When cells from these mice were inserted into ordinary mice, the latter adopted their exceptional counterparts’ regenerative abilities. When the bred mice reproduced with ordinary mice, their offspring were born with the same powers.
 “If we identified the molecules that allow mice that don’t regenerate to regenerate…and I think we could be close to doing that, then I think the next step is to consider what these molecules would do in individuals,” says Ellen Heber-Katz, professor of molecular and cellular oncogenesis at Wistar. It will, however, take awhile before it becomes clear which genes are responsible for this special ability.

http://www.odemagazine.com/news.php?nID=656 

Have you ever heard anyone say, “Oh, I can’t help it! It’s just the way I am!”, or “I’ll never lose any weight!”, or “I’m never gonna be able to do this, I was born too clumsy!”

Well with the scientific advances now being made in learning how the brain works, no one is ever going to be able to use any of these excuses again.

" We’re going to have to change the way we think!"

Back in 1989, the US government declared the 1990’s as the “Decade of the Brain”. During that ten year period it was the goal of the neuroscience community, to learn as much as possible about how our brain works! Up until that time, very little was known about the intricate workings of the human brain.

Oh, there were lots of theories for sure, but until the development in the last 5-7 years of the computer enhanced scan and imagery techniques and equipment such as functional MRI scans and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) imagery equipment, very few theories were proven as facts!

Now, scientists at the University of California, and others in recent research studies, have been able to take a look at some very dramatic, astounding pictures by looking at a scan of a slice of a normally functioning “live” human brain, that is the thickness of less than 1/500,000th of a human hair! Never before could scientists ‘see’ so well how our brain functions!

What these scientists have recently learned, during a process called Brain Plasticity, is that brain cells (neurons) are constantly making structural changes in the brain, forming NEW synaptic connections with other neurons, and NEW neuron pathway patterns AT the very time we are learning, or thinking or forming a NEW memory!

What this means is that your brain is CONSTANTLY CHANGING!

The fantastic news for all of us then is that YOU are going to have to drastically change the way YOU think about what YOU are able to accomplish and achieve!

We can help you to ENORMOUSLY expand your belief in the capacity of your brain for SUCCESS!

It used to be believed that geniuses were born with more brain cells than the rest of us. This is now known to be false! Each of us is born with the same number of brain cells! (About 100 billion!)

It used to be believed that your brain was “hard-wired” when you were born; that you are a product of your genetics alone, and therefore champions and successful people are born not made. Not true! Your brain is constantly growing NEW connections and NEW neuron patterns, every second of every minute of every day of your life! This means that your capacity is almost limitless! You are today a different person than you were yesterday! You are not the same today as you will be tomorrow!

You are constantly capable of CHANGE! Your brain’s neuron patterns and connections are moving and changing with every thought, learning task, or memory that you experience! The total number and capacity of NEW connections, and NEW skills and learning neuron patterns that EACH of us and our brain can form is the number 1 followed by 6.2 million miles of zeros! No human being has ever been known, Einstein included, to use more than 1% of this capacity!

"THE NUMBER" 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000>

What type of NEW neuron connections are you making? Are they positive possibility thoughts and memories? Or are they negative, ‘That’s the way I am’ connections! Your brain-capacity for success is limitless! And it all starts in that little 3 pound gelatin-like blob, we call your brain.

http://www.scienceforsuccess.com/Possibilities0101.htm

The plotline is classic Marvel Comics fare: An electrician grabs a high-tension wire carrying 7,000 volts of electricity, loses both arms at the shoulder, undergoes an experimental surgery, and emerges bionic. Sci-fi as it sounds, this is the story of Jesse Sullivan, 58, a real-life retired linesman from Dayton, Tennessee.

In July, Sullivan demonstrated the world's most advanced robotic arm, using his thoughts alone to maneuver it. Before an audience at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago he picked up a water bottle, took a swig, and set it back down. "Jesse was awesome," says Todd Kuiken, director of RIC's amputee program, who pioneered the radical nerve-transfer surgery that allows Sullivan to communicate with the limb. Kuiken also engineered the new limb's design.

The performance marked a major breakthrough in prosthetic-limb technology. Many prostheses in use today are mechanical hook-and-wire contraptions. The debut of the computerized limb in 2001 offered new hope, but until now it has been unable to process brain signals directly. Instead the wearer uses his body—the shoulder nub, for instance—to manually press electrical switches placed at the amputation site, enabling just a single motion.

Kuiken's prototype, a six-motor machine with a 64-bit computer embedded in the forearm, is the first brain-controlled prosthesis to move simultaneously at the shoulder, elbow and wrist. It's also the first to enable the wearer to sense pressure. "I actually feel my hand open and close," Sullivan says. "It feels sort of like squeezing a tennis ball."

For now, Sullivan relies on an older model while Kuiken tweaks the new one. "Jesse broke 12 stainless-steel bolts on the earlier model trying to pull-start a lawn mower," Kuiken says. "If I let him take the prototype home, it would be toast in minutes. We still need to make it stronger."

 1. THE SURGERY Doctors rewired four nerves that once connected to Jesse Sullivan's arm and transferred them to his chest muscles. Brain signals fire the nerves and trigger electrodes affixed to his chest. A computer converts the data into action.

2. THE SHOULDER The world's only motorized shoulder is made of aluminum and carbon fiber and weighs 1.8 pounds. A 14.8-volt lithium-ion battery drives a motor and gearbox.

3. THE HUMORAL ROTATOR This one-motor joint enables Sullivan to move his forearm close to his midline, simplifying tasks such as buttoning a shirt.

4. THE CONTROL UNIT A 64-bit microprocessor embedded in the forearm coordinates movement of five motorized joints.

5. THE HAND Hailing from Shanghai, the hand is the only such device to feature a flexible, motorized wrist. Fingertip sensors enable pressure sensation.

By Nicole Dyer | September 2005