While reading through different articles on the BBC's website this past week I've discovered people around the world have been working tirelessly when it comes to innovative ideas in the world.
I will begin with the second example I found as it is much less unsettling in my mind than the first article I found online.
So the second example of innovative ideas includes the "TomTato," which is a plant created through grafting tomato plants and potato plants together.
According to those responsible for the creation, the cell structure or the plants' genetics were not modified in anyway. The result of the TomTato came through grafting, which is where a skilled individual cuts the stems of an already growing tomato and potato plant. The two plants need a stem of the same size and are then taped together. The plants then heal from the cut, fusing together if done properly.
According to the firm Thompson and Morgan, who created the plant, the TomTato grows for a single season with the potatoes becoming ready at the same time as the tomatoes.
This has been something that people have played with for around a decade and they have been working on the taste of both the potatoes and tomatoes the single plant produces.
This is actually quite the neat idea and for people with little room in their gardens, sounds like an ideal plant to possibly grow in the future, when they're made more readily available.
The next story is also quite neat, but is also somewhat shocking in my opinion.
Now, in the past graphing skin from ones forehead onto ones nose, to replace missing skin there, has been common. The skin on the forehead is considered a good match for replacing skin on the nose, but what I find shocking is that an entire nose was shaped due to research and experimentation which has led to a 22-year-old man to actually grow a new nose on his forehead.
I didn't even read the article before racing into my co-worker's office to share the photo with him, as I simply couldn't believe it was real.
Through further readings I discovered this has become somewhat common in replacing different small appendages including ears.
In this particular case of the nose, which is in China, the man's new nose was created by expanding the skin on the man's forehead, then adding rib cartilage to build the nose, and finally reconstructive surgeons shaped the nostrils.
It is thought the young man, who lost his nose to an infection following injuries from a car accident, will maintain his sense of smell and will continue to breath normally through his new nose following the surgery.
Now interestingly enough this procedure did not involve stem cells, though through initial readings of different articles seemed as though it had been.
I remembered, and probably will never forget, that 2013 also brought us a hamburger from stem cells grown in a test tube and began wondering what other scientific leaps were taken this year.
As I researched I discovered there was a number of interesting findings in the scientific community from biology to astronomy to technology and more.
Some of the breakthroughs include Bolivian scientists who were able to restore brain function to rats affected by strokes with the injection of stem cells.
Scotland's Heriot-Watt University also made the top of the list in my opinion because they were able to create a 3D printer with the capability of producing living stem cells, thus opening up the possibility of printing organs for transplant in the future.
Another innovation which was unveiled this year included an autonomous car by the University of Oxford, which switches between manual and auto-pilot.
A new carnivorous mammal, for the first time in 35 years, the olinguito, is identified in the Western Hemisphere. A part of the raccoon family the animal is found in western Colombia and Ecuador within the montane forests of the Andes Mountains. They had been discovered many years ago, but had been confused with an olingo.
Countless other scientific breakthroughs also occurred this year and I don't doubt that more strides will continue to be taken in the future.
