TechKnow 122: GDF11 heart protein & Montana trout

February 2, 2014 4:00PM ET

Newly isolated protein could restore heart health, Montana's endangered rivers and earthquake-proofing bridges

Topics:
Science
Technology
Health

Join our expert "TechKnow" contributors Phil Torres, Kyle Hill, Rachelle Oldmixon and Marita Davison as they explore scientific innovations and their impact on our lives. Kyle meets two Harvard researchers who believe they have isolated a protein that could one day save countless lives by making an old heart young again. Rachelle heads to Montana, where scientists are working to save the state's rivers and the fly fisherman's holy grail, the cutthroat trout. Plus Marita goes inside San Francisco's new Bay Bridge to see its innovative approach to earthquake proofing.

More on GDF11, Montana rivers & the Bay Bridge

Harvard Stem Cell Institue

Two researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School professor Richard T. Lee and Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology professor Amy Wagers, have identified the protein GDF11 in the blood of mice that may hold the key to treating age-related heart failure in humans. When the protein was injected into mice with age-related heart thickening (similar to humans), the walls of their heart thinned and resembled those of younger, healthier mice.

CalTrans

After the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge partially collapsed during an earthquake in 1989, CalTrans set out to replace it with a bridge that could withstand even the most devastating quakes. Work on the bridge is documented and explained in great detail onCalTrans' website.

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