Several years ago, I saw movie critic Roger Ebert “speak” using a computer. Ebert’s lower jaw had been removed to treat his cancer, which caused him to lose the ability to speak. I thought of this late great critic when I read of two recent medical discoveries that could have affected his cancer diagnosis and the disfigurement he endured.
Ebert’s ability to write was not hampered, but each word had to be printed out, now for the first time, researchers have been able to translate a person’s brain waves into sentences on a computer screen. Scientists successfully developed a brain implant for a man who was paralyzed in a car accident 15 years ago, allowing him to think in limited phrases that then show up as text on a monitor. Using artificial intelligence, it is thought to be a breakthrough that could change the lives of people who have lost the ability to communicate due to illness or injury.
Further news on medical breakthroughs comes from Argonne National Labs Advanced Proton Source (APS) – that’s STEM research. Researchers have determined the structure of an enzyme that plays a key role in the spread of cancer cells. The discovered enzyme accelerates the growth and spread of cancer cells in multiple forms of the disease, from childhood leukemia to colon cancer, breast cancer and glioblastoma, which is an aggressive form of brain or spinal cord cancer.
Chances are, every one of us has been affected by cancer in one way or another. Unlike some other deadly diseases, cancer can take many forms inside the human body, so learning more about a single enzyme linked to many types of this disease could lead to more effective treatments.
It’s exciting to know how STEM research is continuing to improve our lives as well as the lives our families and friends.
