Fuck yeah, medical stuff!

Ear with cochlear implant.

afracturedreality:

The world’s most detailed 3D model of the human papilloma virus (HPV) is the latest addition to Visual Science’s ongoing Viral Park project:

Papillomaviruses are a very diverse group of viruses that infect human skin and mucosal cells, which serve as a barrier between the environment and a human being. Most representatives of this group do not cause any symptoms, but [some strains can cause skin warts, and] highly pathogenic types may cause cancer.

A growing interest in HPV research can be partially — if not wholly — attributed to discovery of the relationship between HPV and cancer and the subsequent Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2008) awarded for this work. German scientist Harald zur Hausen has shown that nearly all cases of cervical cancer are the result of HPV infection. Vaccines against HPV are currently being actively developed and introduced, and the main targets for such vaccines include the most dangerous and common HPV types: HPV6, HPV11, HPV16, HPV18.

Credits: Ivan Konstantinov, Yury Stefanov, Alex Kovalevsky, Dmitry Shcherbinin, Anastasya Bakulina, Kirill Grishanin and Amy Gordon at the Visual Science company.

(via fyeahmedlab)

Bernardo Alberto Houssay was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on April 10, 1887.

He was the first Argentine and Latin American scientist awarded the Nobel Prize. The National Academy of Sciences of Sweden awarded him in Physiology and Medicine for his discovery of the role of the hypophysis gland in carbohydrate metabolism and in diabetes. 

He entered the School of Pharmacy of the University of Buenos Aires at the exceptionally early age of 14, graduating in 1904. He had already begun studying medicine and, in 1907, before completing his studies, he took up a post in the Department of Physiology. He began here his research on the hypophysis which resulted in his M.D.-thesis (1911), a thesis which earned him a University prize.

In 1910 he was appointed Professor of Physiology in the University’s School of Veterinary Medicine. During this time he had been doing hospital practice and, in 1913, became Chief Physician at the Alvear Hospital. In addition to this he was also in charge of the Laboratory of Experimental Physiology and Pathology in the National Department of Hygiene from 1915 to 1919. In 1919 he became Professor of Physiology in the Medical School at Buenos Aires University. He also organized the Institute of Physiology at the Medical School, making it a centre with an international reputation. He remained Professor and Director of the Institute until 1943. In this year the Government then in power deprived him of his post, as a result of his voicing his opinion that there should be effective democracy in the country. Although receiving many invitations from abroad, he continued his work in an institute which he organized with the support of funds contributed by the Sauberan Foundation and other bodies. This was the Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental, where he still remains as Director. In 1955 a new Government reinstated him in the University.

He has worked in almost every field of physiology, having a special interest in the endocrine glands. He has made a lifelong study of the hypophysis and his most important discovery concerns the role of the anterior lobe of the hypophysis in carbohydrate metabolism and the onset of diabetes. He has worked on many other topics in physiology and pharmacology, including the physiology of circulation and respiration, the processes of immunity, the nervous system, digestion, and snake and spider venoms.

Apart from his research, he has been active in promoting the advancement of university and medical education, and of scientific research, in Argentina.

Dr. Houssay is the author of over 500 papers and of several books. He has won many prizes ranging in time from that of the National Academy of Sciences, Buenos Aires, in 1923, to the Dale Medal of the Society of Endocrinology (London) in 1960.

He was a key figure in the development of science in Argentina. The result of his tireless efforts is the creation of numerous research institutes and training of several generations of scientists. Medical graduate with honors from the University of Buenos Aires, he was, along with others, behind the creation of the National Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), which he chaired until his death on September 21, 1971. He also created the Institute of Experimental Biology and Medicine, and co-founded the Argentina Association for the Advancement of Science.

He holds honorary degrees of twenty-five universities and is a member of the Argentine National Academy of Medicine, the Academy of Letters, the National Academy of Sciences of Buenos Aires, the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of Buenos Aires, and of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He is honorary professor of 15 universities, foreign associate of 11 academies or learned societies, member (honorary or correspondent) of 38 Academies, 16 Societies of Biology, 11 of Endocrinology, 7 of Physiology and 5 of Cardiology. He has been decorated by the governments of several countries.