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Category: innovation – Page 181

Lab-grown meat just took a huge step toward feeling like real meat

Lab-grown meat is coming to your plate, and thanks to a new breakthrough in its development, it may feel like traditional meat.

Researchers at Harvard University have discovered a way to use edible gelatin scaffolds to mimic real meat’s texture and consistency. The team used cow and rabbit muscle cells on the scaffolds to recreate the long, thin fibers that give meat its distinctive feel.

The research was published Monday in the journal NPJ Science of Food. Kit Parker, senior author of the study, said in a statement that he first started thinking about the idea after being a judge on the Food Network.

EpiBone, Inc. Receives FDA Clearance to Commence its First-In-Human, Phase 1/2 Trial of its Bone Product, EB-CMF

Potential breakthrough technology for stem-cell based bone replacement

NEW YORK, May 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — EpiBone, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted its Investigational New Drug (IND) clearance to proceed with a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of its lead bone product EpiBone-Craniomaxillofacial (EB-CMF), as a potential treatment for ramus continuity defects in the mandible. The ramus is a key component of the jaw bone which attaches to the muscles associated with chewing.

EB-CMF is a living anatomically correct bone graft manufactured from a patient’s own adipose derived stem cells. This eliminates the need to harvest bone from a patient’s body, potentially reducing pain, surgical and hospitalization time while creating a precision fit with the defect.

The Fork in the Road for the Future of Humanity

On 25 September 2019, Steve Fuller gave a Codex Talk at the Royal Society of London, commemorating the ‘world’s top 50 innovators’ on the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci authored the ‘Codex’ in question, which is a notebook of his thoughts, including a drawing of ‘Vitruvian Man’, which begins Fuller’s talk.

The ‘fork in the road for the future of humanity’ refers to transhumanism and posthumanism, which Fuller treats as projecting radically alternative visions for the human condition.

You can watch the sixteen-minute video on YouTube:

Would a robot pet enhance your life?

We all know that dogs are a man’s best friend, but has the world really come to this?

On a particularly blustery day in New York City, I found myself (as one with the income bracket of a writer sporadically does) on the Upper East Side, amidst tribes of cooler-than-thou high school students, dedicated dog walkers and women wearing hats that looked like a Shar-Pei had potentially suffered in the making of it.

Nonetheless, I braved the chilly air and found solace in the Cooper Hewitt Museum, the design institution that is part of the Smithsonian. Upon entering, visitors are greeted with a magic wand-looking pen tool, that serves as an interactive notekeeper for items you are interested in. “How innovative.” Perfect for a museum about innovation, am I right? With my magic wand in hand, I entered the Narnia of objects, with the first stop being an exhibition titled “Access and Ability.” Featuring “artifacts” designed for people with disabilities, I was surprised to find among the various innovations, a very cute-looking puppy that I instinctively wanted to pet. But I did not, for fear of being arrested, a la Ocean’s 12.