Amanda earned a Master's degree is in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University in 2010. She focused on protein-protein interactions at the single-cell level to understand various aspects of protein folding and biochemistry.
Neurodegenerative diseases are increasingly becoming a global health problem and occur when nerve cells, or neurons, begin to deteriorate. Various conditions are associated with this degeneration, such as Alzheimer’s disease, which affects 5 million Americans, Parkinson’s disease affecting 400,000, and multiple sclerosis, affecting 30,000. The total number of Americans affected annually by neurodegenerative diseases totals 55 million.
Nature often outsmarts and outpaces our ability to design various systems with specific and necessary roles in the ecosystem. We have much to learn from these systems, and constructing artificial structures that mimic their beneficial aspects is advantageous for numerous applications. So, it makes sense that devices created to carry out biologically related functions based on natural processes are referred to as “bio-inspired.”
As we approach the end of 2017, without a doubt one of the breakthrough scientific achievements of the year was the restoration of fertility in mice by implantation of 3D printed ovaries.
It may be cliché to say that the possibilities of 3D printing are endless by now, but recent advancements in nanomedicine are giving this tagline more credence than ever. What was once theory has now become reality with the introduction in 2015 of the first FDA-approved 3D-printed medicine, Spritam, an anti-seizure medication.
