Science – Corpus

What’s cooking in kidney research?

August 13, 2018 1 Comment

Lorissa McDougall

Imagine what would happen if our kidneys stopped working, if our bodies were no longer able to filter toxins. Unfortunately, this is reality for people living with polycystic kidney disease (PKD).

In PKD, cysts appear on the kidneys. The cysts interfere with normal kidney function, causing (among other symptoms) increased blood pressure and a build-up of toxins. The abnormal cyst formation is due to a mutation in the polycystin producing genes (PKD1 and PKD2). In some forms of the disease, the mutations are passed through each generation, making PKD the most prevalent hereditary disease in the world.

There is no long term cure for PKD. Current therapies can only ease the symptoms. Over the last year and a half, however, I have been trialing the use of new drugs which might delay cystic growth and be a potential treatment for PKD.

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“Bad Blood”

August 6, 2018 1 Comment

Cushla McKinney

In 2014-15, one of the most highly fêted names in biomedical circles was Elizabeth Holmes. 31 year-old Holmes had founded a company called Theranos, to manufacture a small, easy-to-use device – the Edison– that was capable of running multiple analyses on a single drop of blood. Although the Edison was not yet commercially available, the company was testing blood samples from Palo Alto patients on their in-house machines, and had signed agreements with the Cleveland Clinic, Capital BlueCross and AmeriHealth Caritas.

Holmes predicted that Thaneros technology would slash the cost of blood tests, spare patients the stress and pain of repeated blood draws and allow everyday people to monitor their own health on a daily basis, just as a diabetic checks their blood sugar levels. What investors and consumers did not know, however, was that beneath its elegant housing the Edison consisted of little more than a pipette robotic arm, only able to carry out one of the three types of tests Theranos offered, and that with very poor reproducibility. Other tests were carried out on standard equipment but on such dilute samples that their results were also unreliable, and doctors using the company’s services were frequently having to reorder tests from other providers.

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Futuristic vision: robot surgeons

August 28, 2017 3 Comments

Annabelle Payne

Technology is nothing. What’s important is that you have a faith in people, that they’re basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they’ll do wonderful things with them.” – Steve Jobs

I am in my final year of high school and studying photography. This year, I am exploring the growing use of technology, especially in the ever-evolving world of surgery. I want to explore technological developments in the medical world, where robots have begun to take over the tasks of humans. Advanced surgical robots have already begun helping doctors, and there is a high chance that, at least for simple, repetitive procedures, robots will soon be able to perform the whole procedure.

In my work, I have used a hooded character to represent technology. The hooded, faceless ‘hacker’ plans to take over the surgical field with their new technology, and slowly make human surgeons obsolete. This character is found lurking in the back of the surgical theatre while a human surgeon is performing. The distance between them slowly decreases, until the ‘hacker’ and their technology has taken over the tasks of the surgeon.

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Heat, Health and Climate Change

July 3, 2017 Leave a Comment

Sarah Harrison

Otago University’s Department of Preventive and Social Medicine recently hosted a guest seminar by environmental and occupational health scientist Professor Tord Kjellstrom: “Climate change impacts on Health – the underestimated effects of increasing environmental heat in already hot places”. Professor Kjellstrom spoke about projected increases in global atmospheric temperatures in relation to various carbon emission scenarios, and how these changes are likely to impact on health.

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Tai Chi and breast cancer: a research project

February 13, 2017 Leave a Comment

Dr Lizhou Liu

Dr Lizhou Liu is a recipient of the 2017 New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation’s Belinda Scott Clinical Fellowship. Her research will look at the effects of incorporating Tai Chi into the active treatment programme for women with breast cancer.

Tai Chi Many people think of Tai Chi as the exercise with the slow, funny movements. In fact, Tai Chi is a weight-bearing mind-body activity that incorporates physical movement, mindful meditation, and controlled breathing. It is a moderate intensity aerobic exercise (equivalent to walking), and uses slow, deliberate movements coordinated with deep, regulated breathing and imagery to strengthen and relax the body and mind.

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