News Briefs

January 23, 2009

The age of the cyborg
VANCOUVER – Researchers at the University of British Columbia are using artificial systems within the human body, like those found in cyborgs in a science fiction novel, to improve the quality of life for patients.

The research focuses on creating “tissue scaffolds” from millions of tiny fibres through improvements in materials, said a UBC release. Metals, polymers and ceramics are being used to replace injured or destroyed body parts in what engineers at UBC are calling “the next big thing in the world of biomedical engineering.”

Unnatural selection
VICTORIA – Trophy hunting and commercial fishing are causing the most rapid evolutionary change ever observed in the wild, say University of Victoria biologists. Their research shows that human predation is accelerating the rate of trait change in prey animals by as much as 300 per cent.

After studying 29 species, like such as bighorn sheep, caribou, salmon and cod, researchers observed the animal’s body sizes have decreased an average of 20 per cent from previous generations, suggesting the only way to avoid losing traits is to reduce the number of animals we kill and forego the desire to catch the largest.

Research chair announced
WINNIPEG - GlaxoSmithKline Inc. has announced a $1 million investment to establish an endowment for a University of Manitoba research chair in the immunobiology of infectious disease.

A news release said the funding will be earmarked to set up the chair in immunobiology but the specific research focus will be determined with the selection of the appropriate candidate.