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The beauty of scientific research lies in the fact that scientists never really know where a particular development might lead. The research on Gila's monster venom has led to the invention of a drug that helps manage type 2 diabetes, and the enzymes discovered in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park are now widely used for DNA replication, technique used by forensic experts to analyze the scene of the crime.
The same rule of thumb applies to NASA scientists, whose work has found dozens of applications outside of space exploration, particularly in medicine.
Take the Hubble Space Telescope. Launched in 1990, the Hubble has provided us with beautiful intimate photographs of our solar system. But that was not always the case: when the telescope was launched, the first images sent back to Earth were terribly fuzzy. Image processing techniques created by NASA to solve this problem not only refined Hubble's photos, but also had an unexpected benefit: Improving the accuracy of mammograms.
According to NASA, "Applied to mammograms, computer techniques developed to increase the dynamic range and spatial resolution of Hubble's initially fuzzy images allowed doctors to detect less important calcifications than previously, which allowed for detection and detection. faster processing ".
Indeed, the Hubble Space Telescope contains a technology called charge coupled devices (CCDs), which are essentially electron trapping gadgets capable of scanning beams of light. Today, CCDs allow "doctors to analyze tissue by stereotactic biopsy, which requires a needle rather than surgery," according to NASA. [PDF]. In 1994, NASA predicted that this advance would reduce national health care costs by about $ 1 billion a year.
And this is just one of the tools that NASA has developed and is now used to fight breast cancer. Dr. Susan Love, an oncology researcher, had difficulty studying breast ducts – the origin of breast cancer – and turned to research conducted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. As Rosalie Chan reports for the Daily Beast, the Jet Propulsion Lab has devoted vast resources to preventing the spread of terrestrial contaminants in space. His research has focused on the development of a genomic sequencing technology "clean and able to analyze microscopic levels of biomass." As Dr. Love discovered, the same technology is a fantastic way to test for the presence of cancer-related microorganisms in breast canal tissues.
A second technology developed by NASA's Reaction Propulsion Laboratory – the Quantum Well Infrared Well Photodetector (QWIP) – allows humans to see infrared light invisible in a spectrum of colors, helping scientists discover caves on Mars and to study volcanic emissions on Earth. But it is also useful in the doctor's office: a QWIP medical sensor can detect extremely early changes in breast blood flow, a sign of cancer.
And as any doctor will tell you, it's huge: the sooner cancer is detected, the greater the chances of survival.
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