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Business, science, innovation
Polish scientists change the world A New Lease on Life
Hear Poland and the world
Every time Connie Culp smiles, she’s also smiling in the direction of Dr Maria Siemionow. Thanks to this transplant specialist from Poznań, Connie regained her appearance and her will to live after being shot in the face by her husband in 2004. Culp’s facial transplant, performed by Siemionow in 2008, was the fourth such operation in the world, but the first which successfully restored an entire human face-a breakthrough in the history of world medicine. Dr Siemionow not only made a medical advance, she also conquered ethical barriers. The face transplant was not deemed to be a life-saving operation, but Siemionow fought for her patient’s right to receive the treatment. Her determination won over the bioethics commission. All in the service of science and humanity •
Thanks to Prof. Henryk Skarżyński from the World Hearing Center in Kajetany, dozens of people are hearing their loved ones’ voices, music, and the sounds of the world around them for the first time-some after living in silence for years. Cochlear MET is a new type of inner-ear implant. It’s not just highly effective; it has also revolutionized the market for medical procedures for senior citizens • Outsmarting the flu Dr Marta Łuksza (above), a Pole practising in the United States, developed a system capable of predicting what strain of the flu virus will be most widespread in the near future. The technology helps ramp up production of the right vaccines. Before, the effectiveness of flu shots largely depended on the (low)
accuracy of forecasts for which flu virus would attack. Thanks to Łuksza’s research, the effectiveness of the prediction algorithm now stands at 93 % • Research in every home! Zooniverse.org is a platform enabling ordinary people to participate in scientific studies. With simple interfaces, users can help scientists classify various data. There are so many studies and so much information out there, scientists would have to invent a time machine to find time to keep track of it all by themselves! The Zooniverse platform was introduced to Polish Internet users by Prof. Lech Mankiewicz, a distinguished astronomer and physicist and director of the Center for Theoretical Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The engagement by Poles exceeded the researchers’ most ambitious