Mobile Magazine » medlinda gates http://www.mobilemag.com Gadgets, Smartphones, Android Tablets, iPhone, iPad and all the latest tech you'd expect. Thu, 23 May 2013 21:05:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Injection-Free Vaccination Goes After HIV and Malaria Without the Needle http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/02/11/injection-free-vaccination/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/02/11/injection-free-vaccination/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:25:35 +0000 Matt Sabs http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=145488 In a news post published just a few days ago, King’s College London announced that their scientists have successfully “demonstrated the ability to deliver a dried live vaccine to the skin without a traditional needle”. This research, and an injection-free vaccination, could be instrumental in the development of vaccines for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. The tiny disc, [...]

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In a news post published just a few days ago, King’s College London announced that their scientists have successfully “demonstrated the ability to deliver a dried live vaccine to the skin without a traditional needle”. This research, and an injection-free vaccination, could be instrumental in the development of vaccines for HIV, malaria and tuberculosis.

The tiny disc, shown above, has several sugar micro-needles that dissolve when pressed into the skin. Compared to a traditional hypodermic needle, this method is a potentially painless alternative.

The main buzz about this discovery and the injection-free vaccination is that it may open up these live vaccines to the entire world. Furthermore, there is no need for refrigeration and the potential to reduce the cost of manufacturing and transportation is huge. This method also avoids the risk of transmitting blood-borne disease from contaminated needles and syringes.

Overall, this method signifies a huge advance in delivering vaccines for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis. Hopefully we will be hearing more about the successes of this work and its application in the real world.

It’s all worth mentioning that this project was funded and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. One of the main goals of the Gates foundation is to support global health. The foundation gives approximately $800 million a year to global health. The following video is Dr Linda Klavinskis from the Peter Gorer Department of Immunobiology at King’s explaining the research behind the new technique and its wider potential.

Do you think that this is a big step in medicine? How do you think this will affect our fight against disease? Let us know in the comments below.

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]]> http://www.mobilemag.com/2013/02/11/injection-free-vaccination/feed/ 0 Dirt Could Power Cell Phones in Africa http://www.mobilemag.com/2011/05/10/dirt-could-power-cell-phones-in-africa/ http://www.mobilemag.com/2011/05/10/dirt-could-power-cell-phones-in-africa/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 18:30:13 +0000 Silvia Pikal http://www.mobilemag.com/?p=117177 In Sub-Saharan Africa, 22 per cent of households have mobile phones. People who live in remote areas benefit from mobile phones as they can use them to contact health care practitioners, or use health care apps and stay connected with their family and friends. Yet over 500 million people living in the region lack power in their homes.

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]]> In Sub-Saharan Africa, 22 per cent of households have mobile phones. People who live in remote areas benefit from mobile phones as they can use them to contact health care practitioners, or use health care apps and stay connected with their family and friends. Yet over 500 million people living in the region lack power in their homes. Many people have to walk long distances to charging stations, paying between 50 cents and a dollar per charge. While solar chargers are one alternative, they can be costly, and are often not even offered due to the lack of repair opportunities.

A team from the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences  might have a solution. The team received a $100,000 grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work on a microbial fuel cell-based charger; a mobile phone charging system that gets its power from microbes in the soil. The device incorporates a conductive surface, that harvests free electrons created by naturally-occurring soil microbes during the course of their metabolic processes. The device has managed to power LED lights in a lab for 14 months. Once the device is ready for development, two researchers from the team will go to Africa to conduct a field study.

The team hopes that Africans will be able to assemble the chargers from readily-available materials like window screens and soda cans, and should be able to fully charge a phone within 24 hours.

Photo: Gates Foundation

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