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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Blood Zapper"
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READER SCRIPT
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FEED A COLD; STARVE A FEVER; ZAP A VIRUS? THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. THEY'RE FATHER AND SON, BUT YOU MIGHT CALL THEM, "BLOOD RELATIVES"--AFTER THEY SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED A NEW TECHNIQUE TO DESTROY VIRUSES IN THE BLOOD SUPPLY. FOR SHAW-WEI DAVID TSEN, A STUDENT AT JOHNS HOPKINS--AND HIS FATHER, A LASER EXPERT AT ARIZONA STATE--THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT WAS LITERALLY A WALK IN THE PARK; IT WAS ON THAT WALK THAT THE TWO ENVISIONED A WAY TO USE LASERS TO ZAP PATHOGENS IN THE BLOOD. IN THEIR TWO SEPARATE LABORATORIES, ON OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE COUNTRY, THEY AIMED A LOW-POWER LASER FOR LESS THAN A SECOND AT GLASS TUBES CONTAINING VIRUSES IN A SALINE SOLUTION. THE LASER BLAST REDUCED THE AMOUNT OF INFECTIOUS VIRUSES BY 100 TO ONE-THOUSAND TIMES--A RESULT SO AMAZING THAT THEY REPEATED THE TEST, IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE. EVEN BETTER, THE TESTS SHOWED THAT THE LASER SELECTIVELY DESTROYS THE VIRUS--WHILE SPARING NORMAL CELLS. THE TWO SEE A FUTURE WHERE COMMUNICABLE DISEASES CAN BE CONTROLLED WITH TRANSFUSIONS OF LASER-TREATED BLOOD--AND THEY IMAGINE THE BLOOD-ZAPPER EVENTUALLY TAKING ON MORE-SERIOUS PATHOGENS, SUCH AS H-I-V OR HEPATITIS. IT MAY NOT BE LONG BEFORE YOU GO TO THE DOCTOR AND ORDER A "BLOOD LIGHT". THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
