Reflections on Science & Technology 2006

The year 2006 saw progress and new discovery in areas of science, technology and medicine, too many to be listed in one article, but following are a few highlights in the world of discovery for the year 2006.

Are we spawning Killer Viruses?
Physician ordered antibiotics and antibiotic regimens help millions every year recover from a variety of ills. Unfortunately, these same antibiotics are also serving to create new virus strains that are impervious to common antibiotics.

Diseases we thought we'd conquered and banished forever are making a comeback, and they're packing a punch. They're also immune to the original antibiotics that were used to fight them in the first place.

Tuberculosis waged a fierce comeback in South Africa in 2006. The medical community believes that people infected with HIV are especially susceptible. Epidemiologists fear that a combination of HIV-susceptible sufferers and a drug resistant strain of the tuberculosis virus can instigate an epidemic that will be hard to contain. The WHO states that efforts to contain such a threat could cost over $56 billion dollars.

Currently, there are only a half dozen classes of anti-TB drugs. If those no longer prove effective in neutralizing TB, research for new drugs must be funded. Such a discovery would put fighting the disease back into the early 20^th century. One strain of tuberculosis consists of thick walled cells that are impervious to penicillin.

Today, many people who take antibiotics can become seriously ill. One antibiotic in particular, Clindamycin is particularly adept at wiping out even 'good' bacteria within the human body. Running close seconds to Clindamycin are Keflex and Rocephin, as well as amoxicillin and ampicillin. Even other antibiotics such as Cipro and Levaquin are being closely watched.

Polio Makes a Comeback
During the spring of 2006, and for the first time in a decade, an African male tested positive for the poliovirus. Since then 20 more cases have been reported. As of the end of 2006, ten countries, formerly polio-free, are once again seeing evidence of the virus. Most of the virus strains can be traced back to India, where the disease is still going strong. The WHO has scolded India, stating that their outbreaks impede the efforts of other countries to eradicate the virus.

Parkinson's and Stem Cell Research
Thanks, or not, to publicity by celebrities this past year, Parkinson's Disease was in the forefront of technological advancements and the ongoing debate regarding stem-cell research. This year, stem cell research had some major advances, advances that offer hope to millions suffering from Parkinson's. Neurons culled from embryonic stem cells of humans injected into the Parkinson's infected rats showed promising results. The infected rats were soon able to regain motor movement. The down side was that those very same cells encouraged the growth of benign brain tumors, clusters of dividing cells surrounding the injection sites. Researchers are working on that.

Ethanol and Cottonwood Trees
This past year, a group of scientists discovered that the black cottonwood tree, important as a natural resource for making ethanol, contains twice as many genes as a human being. They have succeeded in identifying what 10% of the genes do, and another 45% or so that are similar but not the same as genes in other organisms, but the rest remain a mystery. One plant biologist from West Virginia University, Stephen DiFazio states, "With minimum input, we can grow something that can be converted into fuel."

Super Computer Chips
Computer engineers have always sought ways to make computer speeds faster and faster. This past fall, Intel Corp. claimed to have found a way to incredibly increase the speed of computers as we know them today and are developing a hybrid computer chip that, when energized by an electrical current, a bonded layer of the computer chip produces light that courses through channels in the silicon base to a 'modulator' that flashes light billions of times per second. Such an advance creates speeds more than 100 times faster than computer chips currently on the market. Goodbye DSL? Hello Super Chip?

Anti-Fat Vaccine?
A vaccine against obesity? This past year, an immunologist at the Scripps Research Institute reported that they had developed a vaccine that targets ghrelin, a hormone that increases the sensation of hunger and stimulates the storage of body fat. Of course, these studies are short term, and the long term may show the body compensating with other weight-related hormones. Others are wary of vaccinating the body against one of its own molecules. Perhaps sticking to the old fashioned method of dieting and exercise might still be the best way to prevent obesity.

Alternative Energy - A Growing Trend or Here to Stay?
Ethanol leads the way in the renewable energy options, with 48 new Ethanol plants constructed, or in the process of construction, in the Unites States alone in 2006. China is also joining in the efforts to provide alternate sources of fuel for its growing number of vehicle owners and drivers as well. Windmill power is another trend cropping up from the deserts of California to the plains of Texas and across the Atlantic in Europe. In Colorado, more than 1,000 households are on a waiting list to be supplied with wind power, as it offers a cheap and global friendly energy alternative. Following ethanol and wind power is solar energy alternatives. Big oil companies such as Chevron and Shell have contributed to funding for hydrogen power plants and wind and solar power efforts.

Trans-Fat
Fast food restaurants are taking a big step in reducing or phasing out the use of trans-fatty acid vegetable oils. Will French fries ever be the same? Unfortunately, these popular cooking oils are one of the worst things we humans can ingest, causing growing numbers of those suffering from obesity, heart disease, Type II diabetes and high cholesterol. Most food labels will start displaying the amount of trans-fat in their contents. Many food suppliers are now switching to corn oil and other monounsaturated fat cooking oils.