The most important discoveries in medicine. Shocking contemporaries

Hi all! At the urgent request of the readers of my blog, I continue to talk about what great discoveries in medicine were made by accident. You can read the beginning of this story.

1. How X-rays were discovered

Do you know how the X-ray was discovered? It turns out that at the beginning of the last century, no one knew anything about this device. This radiation was first discovered by the German scientist Wilhelm Roentgen.

How did the doctors of the last century perform operations? Blindly! The doctors did not know where the bone was broken or the bullet was sitting, they relied only on their intuition and sensitive hands.

The discovery happened by chance in November 1895. The scientist conducted experiments using a glass tube in which there was rarefied air.

Schematic representation of an x-ray tube. X - X-rays, K - cathode, A - anode (sometimes called anticathode), C - heat sink, Uh - cathode voltage, Ua - accelerating voltage, Win - water cooling inlet, Wout - water cooling outlet.

When he put out the light in the laboratory and was about to leave, he noticed a green glow in a jar on the table. As it turned out, this was the result of the fact that he forgot to turn off his device, which was located in another corner of the laboratory. When the device was turned off, the glow disappeared.

The scientist decided to cover the tube with black cardboard, and then create darkness in the room itself. He placed various objects in the path of the rays: sheets of paper, boards, books, but the rays passed through them unhindered. When the scientist's hand accidentally got in the way of the rays, he saw moving bones.

The skeleton, like metal, turned out to be impenetrable to the rays. Roentgen was also surprised when he saw that the photographic plate, which was in this room, also lit up.

He suddenly realized that this was some kind of extraordinary case that no one had ever seen before. The scientist was so stunned that he decided not to tell anyone about this yet, but to study this incomprehensible phenomenon himself! Wilhelm called this radiation - "X-ray". That's how amazingly and suddenly the X-ray beam was discovered.

The physicist decided to continue this curious experiment. He called his wife, Frau Berta, suggesting that she put her hand under the "X-ray". After that, they were both stunned. The couple saw the skeleton of the hand of a man who did not die, but was alive!

They suddenly realized that there was a new discovery in the field of medicine, and such an important one! And they were right! To this day, all medicine uses x-rays. It was the first x-ray in history.

For this discovery, Roentgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Back then, scientists didn't know that the misuse of x-rays was dangerous to health. Many received severe burns. However, the scientist lived to be 78 years old, doing scientific research.

On this greatest discovery, a large area of ​​medical technologies began to develop and improve, for example, computed tomography and the same “X-ray” telescope that is capable of capturing rays from space.

Today, not a single operation can do without X-rays or tomography. So an unexpected discovery saves people's lives, helping doctors accurately diagnose and find a diseased organ.

With their help, it is possible to determine the authenticity of paintings, to distinguish real gems from fake ones, and it has become easier to detain smuggled goods at customs.

The most amazing thing is that this is all based on a random, ridiculous experiment.

2. How penicillin was discovered

Another unexpected development was the discovery of penicillin. During the First World War, most of the soldiers died from various infections that fell on their wounds.

When a Scottish doctor, Alexander Fleming, began studying staphylococcal bacteria, he discovered that mold had appeared in his laboratory. Fleming suddenly saw that the staphylococcus bacteria that were close to the mold began to die!

Later, he derived from the same mold a substance that destroys bacteria, which was called "penicillin". But Fleming failed to complete this discovery, because. failed to isolate pure penicillin suitable for injection.

Some time passed when Ernst Cheyne and Howard Florey accidentally found Fleming's unfinished experiment. They decided to finish it. After 5 years they received pure penicillin.

Scientists injected it into sick mice, and the rodents survived! And those who were not introduced to the new medicine died. It was a real bomb! This miracle helped to heal from many ailments, among which are rheumatism, pharyngitis, even syphilis.

In fairness, it must be said that back in 1897, a young military doctor from Lyon, Ernest Duchen, watching Arab grooms lubricate the wounds of horses rubbed with saddles, scraping off the mold from the same wet saddles, made the above-mentioned discovery. He has done research on guinea pigs and has written his doctoral dissertation on the beneficial properties of penicillin. However, the Paris Pasteur Institute did not even accept this work for consideration, citing the fact that the author was only 23 years old. Glory came to Duchenne (1874-1912) only after his death, 4 years after Sir Fleming received the Nobel Prize.

3. How insulin was discovered

Insulin was also unexpectedly received. It is this drug that relieves millions of people with diabetes. In people with diabetes, one thing was accidentally discovered in common - damage to the cells of the pancreas that secrete a hormone that coordinates blood sugar levels. This is insulin.

It was opened in 1920. Two surgeons from Canada - Charles Best and Frederick Banting studied the formation of this hormone in dogs. They injected the sick animal with the hormone that was formed in a healthy dog.

The result exceeded all expectations of scientists. After 2 hours in a sick dog, the level of the hormone was reduced. Further experiments were carried out on sick cows.

In January 1922, scientists ventured a human test by injecting a 14-year-old diabetic boy. It took a little time for the young man to feel better. This is how insulin was discovered. Today, this drug saves millions of lives around the world.

Today we talked about three great discoveries in medicine that were made by accident. This is not the last article on such an interesting topic, visit my blog, I will delight you with new interesting news. Show the article to your friends, because they are also interested to know.

The past year has been very fruitful for science. Special progress scientists have achieved in the field of medicine. Mankind has made amazing discoveries, scientific breakthroughs and created many useful medicines that will certainly soon be freely available. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the ten most amazing medical breakthroughs of 2015, which are sure to make a serious contribution to the development of medical services in the very near future.

Discovery of teixobactin

In 2014, the World Health Organization warned everyone that humanity was entering the so-called post-antibiotic era. And indeed, she was right. Science and medicine have not produced, indeed, new types of antibiotics since 1987. However, diseases do not stand still. Every year, new infections appear that are more resistant to existing drugs. It has become a real world problem. However, in 2015, scientists made a discovery that, in their opinion, will bring dramatic changes.

Scientists have discovered a new class of antibiotics from 25 antimicrobials, including a very important one called teixobactin. This antibiotic destroys microbes by blocking their ability to produce new cells. In other words, microbes under the influence of this drug cannot develop and develop resistance to the drug over time. Teixobactin has now proven to be highly effective against resistant Staphylococcus aureus and several bacteria that cause tuberculosis.

Laboratory tests of teixobactin were carried out on mice. The vast majority of experiments have shown the effectiveness of the drug. Human trials are due to begin in 2017.

Doctors have grown new vocal cords

One of the most interesting and promising areas in medicine is tissue regeneration. In 2015, a new item was added to the list of artificially recreated organs. Doctors from the University of Wisconsin have learned to grow human vocal cords, in fact, from nothing.
A group of scientists led by Dr. Nathan Welhan bioengineered to create a tissue that can mimic the work of the mucous membrane of the vocal cords, namely, that tissue, which is represented by two lobes of the cords, which vibrate to create human speech. Donor cells, from which new ligaments were subsequently grown, were taken from five volunteer patients. In the laboratory, in two weeks, scientists grew the necessary tissue, after which they added it to an artificial model of the larynx.

The sound created by the resulting vocal cords is described by scientists as metallic and compared to the sound of a robotic kazoo (a toy wind musical instrument). However, scientists are confident that the vocal cords created by them in real conditions (that is, when implanted in a living organism) will sound almost like real ones.

In one of the latest experiments on lab mice grafted with human immunity, the researchers decided to test whether the body of rodents would reject the new tissue. Fortunately, this did not happen. Dr. Welham is confident that the tissue will not be rejected by the human body either.

Cancer drug could help Parkinson's patients

Tisinga (or nilotinib) is a tested and approved drug commonly used to treat people with signs of leukemia. However, a new study by Georgetown University Medical Center shows that Tasinga's drug may be a very powerful tool for controlling motor symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease, improving their motor function and controlling the disease's non-motor symptoms.

Fernando Pagan, one of the doctors who conducted this study, believes that nilotinib therapy may be the first effective method of its kind to reduce the degradation of cognitive and motor function in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease.

The scientists gave increased doses of nilotinib to 12 volunteer patients for six months. All 12 patients who completed this trial of the drug to the end, there was an improvement in motor functions. 10 of them showed significant improvement.

The main objective of this study was to test the safety and harmlessness of nilotinib in humans. The dose of the drug used was much less than the dose usually given to patients with leukemia. Despite the fact that the drug showed its effectiveness, the study was still conducted on a small group of people without involving control groups. Therefore, before Tasinga is used as a therapy for Parkinson's disease, several more trials and scientific studies will have to be done.

The world's first 3D printed chest

Over the past few years, 3D printing technology has penetrated many areas, leading to amazing discoveries, developments and new production methods. In 2015, doctors from the Salamanca University Hospital in Spain performed the world's first surgery to replace a patient's damaged chest with a new 3D printed prosthesis.

The man suffered from a rare type of sarcoma, and the doctors had no other choice. To avoid spreading the tumor further throughout the body, experts removed almost the entire sternum from a person and replaced the bones with a titanium implant.

As a rule, implants for large parts of the skeleton are made from a wide variety of materials, which can wear out over time. In addition, the replacement of such a complex articulation of bones as the sternum bones, which are usually unique in each individual case, required doctors to carefully scan a person's sternum in order to design an implant of the right size.

It was decided to use a titanium alloy as the material for the new sternum. After performing high-precision 3D CT scans, the scientists used a $1.3 million Arcam printer to create a new titanium chest. The operation to install a new sternum for the patient was successful, and the person has already completed a full course of rehabilitation.

From skin cells to brain cells

Scientists from California's Salk Institute in La Jolla devoted the past year to research on the human brain. They have developed a method for transforming skin cells into brain cells and have already found several useful applications for the new technology.

It should be noted that scientists have found a way to turn skin cells into old brain cells, which simplifies their further use, for example, in research on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases and their relationship with the effects of aging. Historically, animal brain cells were used for such research, however, scientists, in this case, were limited in their capabilities.

More recently, scientists have been able to turn stem cells into brain cells that can be used for research. However, this is a rather laborious process, and the result is cells that are not able to imitate the work of the brain of an elderly person.

Once researchers developed a way to artificially create brain cells, they turned their attention to creating neurons that would have the ability to produce serotonin. And although the resulting cells have only a tiny fraction of the capabilities of the human brain, they are actively helping scientists in research and finding cures for diseases and disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and depression.

Contraceptive pills for men

Japanese scientists at the Microbial Disease Research Institute in Osaka have published a new scientific paper, according to which, in the not too distant future, we will be able to produce real-life contraceptive pills for men. In their work, scientists describe studies of the drugs "Tacrolimus" and "Cyxlosporin A".

Typically, these drugs are used after organ transplants to suppress the body's immune system so that it does not reject the new tissue. The blockade occurs due to inhibition of the production of the calcineurin enzyme, which contains the PPP3R2 and PPP3CC proteins normally found in male semen.

In their study on laboratory mice, the scientists found that as soon as the PPP3CC protein is not produced in the organisms of rodents, their reproductive functions are sharply reduced. This prompted the researchers to conclude that an insufficient amount of this protein can lead to sterility. After more careful study, experts concluded that this protein gives the sperm cells the flexibility and the necessary strength and energy to penetrate the membrane of the egg.

Testing on healthy mice only confirmed their discovery. Only five days of using the drugs "Tacrolimus" and "Cyxlosporin A" led to complete infertility of mice. However, their reproductive function was fully restored just a week after they stopped giving these drugs. It is important to note that calcineurin is not a hormone, so the use of drugs in no way reduces sexual desire and excitability of the body.

Despite the promising results, it will take several years to create real male birth control pills. About 80 percent of mouse studies are not applicable to human cases. However, scientists still hope for success, as the effectiveness of the drugs has been proven. In addition, similar drugs have already passed human clinical trials and are widely used.

DNA seal

3D printing technologies have created a unique new industry - printing and selling DNA. True, the term “printing” here is more likely to be used specifically for commercial purposes, and does not necessarily describe what is actually happening in this area.

The chief executive of Cambrian Genomics explains that the process is best described by the phrase "error checking" rather than "printing." Millions of pieces of DNA are placed on tiny metal substrates and scanned by a computer, which selects the strands that will eventually make up the entire DNA strand. After that, the necessary connections are carefully cut out with a laser and placed in a new chain, previously ordered by the client.

Companies like Cambrian believe that in the future humans will be able to create new organisms just for fun with special computer hardware and software. Of course, such assumptions will immediately cause the righteous anger of people who doubt the ethical correctness and practical usefulness of these studies and opportunities, but sooner or later, no matter how we want it or not, we will come to this.

Now, DNA printing is showing little promise in the medical field. Drug makers and research companies are among the first customers for companies like Cambrian.

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have gone one step further and have begun to create various figurines from DNA strands. DNA origami, as they call it, may at first glance seem like ordinary pampering, however, this technology also has practical potential for use. For example, it can be used in the delivery of drugs to the body.

Nanobots in a living organism

In early 2015, the field of robotics scored a major victory when a group of researchers from the University of California, San Diego announced that they had conducted the first successful tests using nanobots that performed their task from inside a living organism.

In this case, laboratory mice acted as a living organism. After placing the nanobots inside the animals, the micromachines went to the stomachs of the rodents and delivered the cargo placed on them, which was microscopic particles of gold. By the end of the procedure, the scientists did not notice any damage to the internal organs of mice and, thus, confirmed the usefulness, safety and effectiveness of nanobots.

Further tests showed that more particles of gold delivered by nanobots remain in the stomachs than those that were simply introduced there with a meal. This prompted scientists to think that nanobots in the future will be able to deliver the necessary drugs into the body much more efficiently than with more traditional methods of their administration.

The motor chain of the tiny robots is made of zinc. When it comes into contact with the body's acid-base environment, a chemical reaction occurs that produces hydrogen bubbles that propel the nanobots inside. After some time, the nanobots simply dissolve in the acidic environment of the stomach.

Although the technology has been in development for nearly a decade, it wasn't until 2015 that scientists were able to actually test it in a living environment, rather than in conventional petri dishes, as had been done so many times before. In the future, nanobots can be used to detect and even treat various diseases of internal organs by influencing individual cells with the right drugs.

Injectable brain nanoimplant

A team of Harvard scientists has developed an implant that promises to treat a number of neurodegenerative disorders that lead to paralysis. The implant is an electronic device consisting of a universal frame (mesh), to which various nanodevices can later be connected after it has been inserted into the patient's brain. Thanks to the implant, it will be possible to monitor the neural activity of the brain, stimulate the work of certain tissues, and also accelerate the regeneration of neurons.

The electronic grid consists of conductive polymer filaments, transistors, or nanoelectrodes that connect intersections. Almost the entire area of ​​the mesh is made up of holes, which allows living cells to form new connections around it.

By early 2016, a team of scientists from Harvard is still testing the safety of using such an implant. For example, two mice were implanted in the brain with a device consisting of 16 electrical components. Devices have been successfully used to monitor and stimulate specific neurons.

Artificial production of tetrahydrocannabinol

For many years, marijuana has been used medicinally as a pain reliever and, in particular, to improve the condition of patients with cancer and AIDS. In medicine, a synthetic substitute for marijuana, or rather its main psychoactive component, tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC), is also actively used.

However, biochemists at the Technical University of Dortmund have announced the creation of a new species of yeast that produces THC. What's more, unpublished data indicate that the same scientists created another type of yeast that produces cannabidiol, another psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Marijuana contains several molecular compounds that are of interest to researchers. Therefore, the discovery of an effective artificial way to create these components in large quantities could be of great benefit to medicine. However, the method of conventionally growing plants and then extracting the necessary molecular compounds is now the most efficient way. Within 30 percent of the dry weight of modern marijuana can contain the right THC component.

Despite this, Dortmund scientists are confident that they will be able to find a more efficient and faster way to extract THC in the future. By now, the created yeast is re-growth on molecules of the same fungus, instead of the preferred alternative in the form of simple saccharides. All this leads to the fact that with each new batch of yeast, the amount of free THC component also decreases.

In the future, the scientists promise to streamline the process, maximize THC production and scale up to industrial use, which will ultimately meet the needs of medical research and European regulators who are looking for new ways to produce THC without growing marijuana itself.

04/05/2017

Modern clinics and hospitals are equipped with the most sophisticated diagnostic equipment, with the help of which it is possible to establish an accurate diagnosis of the disease, without which, as you know, any pharmacotherapy becomes not only meaningless, but also harmful. Significant progress is also observed in physiotherapy procedures, where the corresponding devices show high efficiency. Such achievements became possible thanks to the efforts of design physicists, who, as scientists joke, “repay the debt” to medicine, because at the dawn of the formation of physics as a science, many doctors made a very significant contribution to it.

William Gilbert: at the origins of the science of electricity and magnetism

William Gilbert (1544–1603), a graduate of St John's College, Cambridge, is essentially the founder of the science of electricity and magnetism. This man, thanks to his extraordinary abilities, made a dizzying career: two years after graduating from college, he becomes a bachelor, four - a master, five - a doctor of medicine and, finally, receives the post of Queen Elizabeth's medical officer.

Despite being busy, Gilbert began to study magnetism. Apparently, the impetus for this was the fact that a crushed magnet in the Middle Ages was considered a medicine. As a result, he created the first theory of magnetic phenomena, establishing that any magnets have two poles, while opposite poles attract, and like poles repel. Conducting an experiment with an iron ball that interacted with a magnetic needle, the scientist for the first time suggested that the Earth is a giant magnet, and both magnetic poles of the Earth can coincide with the geographic poles of the planet.

Gilbert discovered that when a magnet is heated above a certain temperature, its magnetic properties disappear. Subsequently, this phenomenon was investigated by Pierre Curie and named the "Curie point".

Gilbert also studied electrical phenomena. Since some minerals, when rubbed against wool, acquired the property of attracting light bodies, and the greatest effect was observed in amber, the scientist introduced a new term into science, calling such phenomena electrical (from lat. electricus- "amber"). He also invented an instrument for detecting charge, the electroscope.

In honor of William Gilbert, the unit of measurement of the magnetomotive force in the CGS, the gilbert, is named.

Jean Louis Poiseuille: one of the pioneers of rheology

Jean Louis Poiseuille (1799–1869), a member of the French Medical Academy, is listed in modern encyclopedias and reference books not only as a doctor, but also as a physicist. And this is true, because, dealing with the issues of blood circulation and respiration of animals and people, he formulated the laws of blood movement in the vessels in the form of important physical formulas. In 1828, the scientist first used a mercury manometer to measure blood pressure in animals. In the process of studying the problems of blood circulation, Poiseuille had to engage in hydraulic experiments, in which he experimentally established the law of fluid flow through a thin cylindrical tube. This type of laminar flow is called the Poiseuille flow, and in the modern science of the flow of fluids - rheology - the unit of dynamic viscosity, poise, is also named after him.

Jean-Bernard Léon Foucault: A Visual Experience

Jean-Bernard Léon Foucault (1819–1868), a doctor by education, immortalized his name by no means by achievements in medicine, but, above all, by constructing the very pendulum, named after him and now known to every schoolchild, with the help of which it was clear The rotation of the earth on its axis has been proven. In 1851, when Foucault first demonstrated his experience, it was talked about everywhere. Everyone wanted to see the rotation of the Earth with their own eyes. Things got to the point that the President of France, Prince Louis-Napoleon, personally allowed this experiment to be staged on a truly gigantic scale in order to demonstrate it publicly. Foucault was given the building of the Paris Pantheon, whose dome height is 83 m, since under these conditions the deviation of the swing plane of the pendulum was much more noticeable.

In addition, Foucault was able to determine the speed of light in air and water, invented the gyroscope, was the first to pay attention to the heating of metal masses during their rapid rotation in a magnetic field (Foucault currents), and also made many other discoveries, inventions and improvements in the field of physics. In modern encyclopedias, Foucault is listed not as a doctor, but as a French physicist, mechanic and astronomer, a member of the Paris Academy of Sciences and other prestigious academies.

Julius Robert von Mayer: ahead of his time

The German scientist Julius Robert von Mayer, the son of a pharmacist, who graduated from the medical faculty of the University of Tübingen and subsequently received a doctorate in medicine, left his mark on science both as a doctor and as a physicist. In 1840–1841 he took part in the voyage to the island of Java as a ship's doctor. During the voyage, Mayer noticed that the color of the sailors' venous blood in the tropics is much lighter than in the northern latitudes. This led him to the idea that in hot countries, in order to maintain a normal body temperature, less food should be oxidized (“burned”) than in cold ones, that is, there is a connection between food consumption and the formation of heat.

He also found that the amount of oxidizable products in the human body increases as the volume of work performed by him increases. All this gave Mayer reason to admit that heat and mechanical work are capable of mutual transformation. He presented the results of his research in several scientific papers, where he for the first time clearly formulated the law of conservation of energy and theoretically calculated the numerical value of the mechanical equivalent of heat.

“Nature” in Greek is “physis”, and in English the doctor is still “physician”, so the joke about the “duty” of physicists to doctors can be answered with another joke: “There is no debt, just the name of the profession obliged”

According to Mayer, motion, heat, electricity, etc. - qualitatively different forms of "forces" (as Meyer called energy), turning into each other in equal quantitative ratios. He also considered this law in relation to the processes occurring in living organisms, arguing that plants are the accumulator of solar energy on Earth, while in other organisms only transformations of substances and “forces” occur, but not their creation. Mayer's ideas were not understood by his contemporaries. This circumstance, as well as harassment in connection with the contestation of the priority in the discovery of the law of conservation of energy, led him to a severe nervous breakdown.

Thomas Jung: an amazing variety of interests

Among the prominent representatives of science of the XIX century. a special place belongs to the Englishman Thomas Young (1773-1829), who was distinguished by a variety of interests, among which were not only medicine, but also physics, art, music, and even Egyptology.

From an early age, he showed extraordinary abilities and a phenomenal memory. Already at the age of two he read fluently, at four he knew by heart many works of English poets, by the age of 14 he became acquainted with differential calculus (according to Newton), spoke 10 languages, including Persian and Arabic. Later he learned to play almost all musical instruments of that time. He also performed in the circus as a gymnast and a rider!

From 1792 to 1803, Thomas Jung studied medicine in London, Edinburgh, Göttingen, Cambridge, but then became interested in physics, in particular optics and acoustics. At 21 he became a member of the Royal Society, and from 1802 to 1829 he was its secretary. Received a doctorate in medicine.

Jung's research in the field of optics made it possible to explain the nature of accommodation, astigmatism and color vision. He is also one of the creators of the wave theory of light, he was the first to point out the amplification and attenuation of sound when sound waves are superimposed, and he proposed the principle of superposition of waves. In the theory of elasticity, Young belongs to the study of shear deformation. He also introduced the characteristic of elasticity - the tensile modulus (Young's modulus).

And yet, Jung's main occupation remained medicine: from 1811 until the end of his life, he worked as a doctor at St. George in London. He was interested in the problems of treating tuberculosis, he studied the functioning of the heart, worked on the creation of a classification system for diseases.

Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz: in "medicine-free time"

Among the most famous physicists of the XIX century. Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz (1821–1894) is considered a national treasure in Germany. Initially, he received a medical education and defended his thesis on the structure of the nervous system. In 1849, Helmholtz became a professor at the Department of Physiology at the University of Königsberg. He was fond of physics in his spare time from medicine, but very quickly his work on the law of conservation of energy became known to physicists around the world.

The book of the scientist "Physiological Optics" became the basis of all modern physiology of vision. With the name of a doctor, mathematician, psychologist, professor of physiology and physics Helmholtz, inventor of the eye mirror, in the 19th century. fundamental reconstruction of physiological ideas is inextricably linked. A brilliant connoisseur of higher mathematics and theoretical physics, he put these sciences at the service of physiology and achieved outstanding results.

The clues to the various states of the human body were searched for a long time and painfully. Not all attempts by doctors to get to the bottom of the truth were perceived by society with enthusiasm and welcome. After all, doctors often had to do things that seemed wild to people. But at the same time, without them, it was impossible to further advance the medical business. AiF.ru has collected stories of the most striking medical discoveries, for which some of their authors were almost persecuted.

Anatomical features

The structure of the human body as the basis of medical science was puzzled even by doctors of the ancient world. So, for example, in ancient Greece, attention was already paid to the relationship between various physiological states of a person and the features of his physical structure. At the same time, as experts note, the observation was more of a philosophical nature: no one suspected what was happening inside the body itself, and surgical interventions were completely rare.

Anatomy as a science was born only in the Renaissance. And for those around her, she was a shock. For example, Belgian physician Andreas Vesalius decided to practice dissections of corpses in order to understand exactly how the human body works. At the same time, he often had to act at night and by not entirely legal methods. However, all doctors who dared to study such details could not act openly, because such behavior was considered demonic.

Andreas Vesalius. Photo: Public Domain

Vesalius himself ransomed the corpses from the executor. Based on his findings and research, he created the scientific work "On the structure of the human body", which was published in 1543. This book is regarded by the medical community as one of the greatest works and the most important discovery, which gives the first complete picture of the internal structure of a person.

Dangerous radiation

Today, modern diagnostics cannot be imagined without such technology as X-ray. However, at the end of the 19th century, absolutely nothing was known about X-rays. Such useful radiation was discovered Wilhelm Roentgen, German scientist. Before its discovery, it was much more difficult for doctors (especially surgeons) to work. After all, they could not just take it and see where the foreign body is in a person. I had to rely only on my intuition, as well as on the sensitivity of my hands.

The discovery took place in 1895. The scientist conducted various experiments with electrons, he used a glass tube with rarefied air for his work. At the end of the experiments, he put out the light and got ready to leave the laboratory. But at that moment I discovered a green glow in the jar left on the table. It appeared due to the fact that the scientist did not turn off the device, standing in a completely different corner of the laboratory.

Further, Roentgen only had to experiment with the data obtained. He began to cover the glass tube with cardboard, creating darkness in the whole room. He also checked the effect of the beam on various objects placed in front of him: a sheet of paper, a board, a book. When the scientist's hand was in the path of the beam, he saw his bones. Comparing a number of his observations, he was able to understand that with the help of such rays it is possible to consider what is happening inside the human body without violating its integrity. In 1901 Roentgen received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery. It has been saving people's lives for more than 100 years, making it possible to identify various pathologies at different stages of their development.

The power of microbes

There are discoveries to which scientists have been moving purposefully for decades. One of these was the microbiological discovery made in 1846. Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis. At that time, doctors very often faced with the death of women in childbirth. Ladies who had recently become mothers died from the so-called puerperal fever, that is, an infection of the uterus. Moreover, the doctors could not determine the cause of the problem. In the department where the doctor worked, there were 2 rooms. In one of them, births were attended by doctors, in the other, by midwives. Despite the fact that doctors had significantly better training, women in their hands died more often than in the case of childbirth with midwives. And this fact of the physician is extremely interested.

Ignaz Philip Semmelweis. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Semmelweis began to closely observe their work in order to understand the essence of the problem. And it turned out that, in addition to childbirth, doctors also practiced autopsy of deceased women in childbirth. And after anatomical experiments, they returned to the delivery room again, without even washing their hands. This prompted the scientist to think: do doctors not carry invisible particles on their hands, which lead to the death of patients? He decided to test his hypothesis empirically: he ordered medical students who participated in the process of obstetrics to treat their hands every time (then bleach was used for disinfection). And the number of deaths of young mothers immediately fell from 7% to 1%. This allowed the scientist to conclude that all infections with puerperal fever have one cause. At the same time, the connection between bacteria and infections was not yet visible, and Semmelweis's ideas were ridiculed.

Only 10 years later no less famous scientist Louis Pasteur proved experimentally the importance of micro-organisms invisible to the eye. And it was he who determined that with the help of pasteurization (i.e. heating) they can be destroyed. It was Pasteur who was able to prove the connection between bacteria and infections by conducting a series of experiments. After that, it remained to develop antibiotics, and the lives of patients previously considered hopeless were saved.

Vitamin cocktail

Until the second half of the 19th century, no one knew anything about vitamins. And no one imagined the value of these small micronutrients. Even now, vitamins are far from being valued by everyone on their merits. And this despite the fact that without them you can lose not only health, but also life. There are a number of specific diseases that are associated with malnutrition. Moreover, this position is confirmed by centuries of experience. So, for example, one of the clearest examples of the destruction of health from a lack of vitamins is scurvy. On one of the famous trips Vasco da Gama 100 of the 160 crew members died from it.

The first to succeed in the search for useful minerals was Russian scientist Nikolai Lunin. He experimented on mice that consumed artificially cooked food. Their diet was the following nutritional system: purified casein, milk fat, milk sugar, salts, which were part of both milk and water. In fact, these are all necessary components of milk. At the same time, the mice were clearly missing something. They did not grow, lost weight, did not eat their food and died.

Salvation in sugar

It is today that people with diabetes live quite normal lives with some adjustments. And not so long ago, everyone who suffered from such a disease was hopelessly ill and died. This was the case until insulin was discovered.

The next attempts are dated 1908. German specialist Georg Ludwig Zülzer isolated an extract from the pancreas, with the help of which even for some time the treatment of a patient dying of diabetes was carried out. Later, the outbreak of world wars temporarily postponed research in this area.

The next person to tackle the mystery was Frederick Grant Banting, a physician whose friend died just the same because of diabetes. After the young man graduated from medical school and served during the First World War, he became an assistant professor in one of the private medical schools. Reading an article in 1920 on ligation of the pancreatic ducts, he decided to experiment. He set the goal of such an experiment to obtain a gland substance that was supposed to lower blood sugar. Together with an assistant, who was given to him by his mentor, in 1921, Banting was finally able to get the necessary substance. After its introduction to an experimental dog with diabetes, who was dying from the consequences of the disease, the animal became significantly better. It remains only to develop the achieved results.

Discoveries are not born suddenly. Each development, before the media found out about it, is preceded by a long and painstaking work. And before tests and pills appear in the pharmacy, and in laboratories - new diagnostic methods, time must pass. Over the past 30 years, the number of medical research has increased almost 4 times, and they are included in medical practice.

Biochemical blood test at home
Soon, a biochemical blood test, like a pregnancy test, will take a couple of minutes. MIPT nanobiotechnologists fit a high-precision blood test into an ordinary test strip.

The biosensor system based on the use of magnetic nanoparticles makes it possible to accurately measure the concentration of protein molecules (markers indicating the development of various diseases) and to simplify the procedure of biochemical analysis as much as possible.

“Traditionally, tests that can be carried out not only in the laboratory, but also in the field, are based on the use of fluorescent or colored labels, and the results are determined “by eye” or using a video camera. We use magnetic particles, which have the advantage of: with their help, it is possible to carry out analysis even by dipping a test strip into a completely opaque liquid, for example, to determine substances directly in whole blood,” explains Alexei Orlov, researcher at the GPI RAS and lead author of the study.

If the usual pregnancy test reports either "yes" or "no", then this development allows you to accurately determine the concentration of the protein (that is, at what stage of development it is).

"Numerical measurement is carried out only electronically using a portable device. Situations "either yes or no" are excluded," says Alexei Orlov. According to a study published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, the system has successfully proven itself in the diagnosis of prostate cancer, and in some respects even surpassed the "gold standard" for determining PSA - enzyme immunoassay.

When the test appears in pharmacies, the developers are still silent. It is planned that the biosensor, among other things, will be able to carry out environmental monitoring, analysis of products and medicines, and all this right on the spot, without unnecessary instruments and costs.

Trainable bionic limbs
Today's bionic hands are not much different from real ones in terms of functionality - they can move their fingers and take objects, but still they are still far from the "original". To "synchronize" a person with a machine, scientists implant electrodes in the brain, remove electrical signals from muscles and nerves, but the process is laborious and takes several months.

The GalvaniBionix team, consisting of MIPT students and graduate students, has found a way to make learning easier and make it so that not a person adapts to a robot, but a limb adapts to a person. A program written by scientists using special algorithms recognizes the "muscle commands" of each patient.

"Most of my classmates, who have very cool knowledge, go into solving financial problems - they go to work in corporations, create mobile applications. This is not bad and not good, it's just different. I personally wanted to do something global, in the end so that the children have something to tell about. And at Phystech, I found like-minded people: they are all from different fields - physiologists, mathematicians, programmers, engineers - and we found such a task for ourselves, "Alexey Tsyganov, a member of the GalvaniBionix team, shared his personal motive.

DNA Cancer Diagnosis
An ultra-precise test system for the early diagnosis of cancer has been developed in Novosibirsk. According to Vitaly Kuznetsov, a researcher at the Vector Center for Virology and Biotechnology, his team managed to create a certain oncomarker - an enzyme that can detect cancer at an early stage using DNA isolated from saliva (blood or urine).

Now a similar test is carried out by analyzing the specific proteins that form the tumor. The Novosibirsk approach proposes to look at the modified DNA of a cancer cell, which appear long before proteins. Accordingly, the diagnosis allows you to detect the disease in the initial stage.

A similar system is already used abroad, but in Russia it is not certified. Scientists managed to "cheapen" the existing technology (1.5 rubles against 150 euros - 12 million rubles). Employees of "Vector" expect that soon their analysis will be included in the mandatory list for clinical examination.

electronic nose
An "electronic nose" has been created at the Siberian Institute of Physics and Technology. The gas analyzer evaluates the quality of food, cosmetic and medical products, and is also able to diagnose a number of diseases by exhaled air.

“We examined apples: we put the control part in the refrigerator, and left the rest indoors at room temperature,” says Timur Muksunov, research engineer at the Safety Methods, Systems, and Technologies Laboratory of the Siberian Institute of Physics and Technology.

"After 12 hours, using the installation, it was possible to reveal that the second part emits gases more intensively than the control one. Now, at vegetable bases, products are received according to organoleptic indicators, and with the help of the device being created, it will be possible to more accurately determine the shelf life of products, which will affect its quality" , - he said. Muksunov is pinning his hopes on the start-up support program - the "nose" is fully ready for serial production and is waiting for funding.

pill for depression
Scientists from together with colleagues from them. N.N. Vorozhtsova have developed a new drug for the treatment of depression. The tablet increases the concentration of serotonin in the blood, thereby helping to cope with the blues.

Now the antidepressant under the working name TC-2153 is undergoing preclinical trials. The researchers hope that "it will successfully pass all the others and help achieve progress in the treatment of a number of serious psychopathologies," Interfax writes.