Lab notes: a womb with a view of the future for premature babies

It ’s a sensational claim, but a group of researchers believe that they may havefound evidence that will rewrite the history of human arrival in North America. The scientists believe that smashed mastodon bones found under a freeway construction site in California indicate that humans arrived over 100,000 years earlier than previously thought. To say that other experts are sceptical, however, would be to understate the situation somewhat. “They are going to face a shitstorm,” said one scientist who preferred not to be named. For my (admittedly limited) money, however, the two biggest stories this week were advances in cancer screening and care for premature babies. The first is a‘liquid biopsy’, a DNA-based test that in a major lung cancer trial was able to spot cancer recurrence up to a year before conventional scans. But to me, the most impressive breakthrough this week is theartificial womb intended to help premature babies. It has been shown to keep that premature lambs alive and growing for four weeks. Doctors are hoping that this could act as a bridge between the womb and the outside world for the the most fragile newborns – those born between 23 and 28 weeks’ gestation.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Science Source Type: news