Each year, 27 million children in poor countries do not receive basic preventive vaccines. As a result, serious diseases that were eliminated in industrialized countries long ago remain widespread in the developing world, causing more than one million child deaths annually. Most vaccines must be given multiple times over weeks or months, and must be kept constantly refrigerated -- these are serious obstacles for families who must travel long distances to the nearest health clinic, and for communities without electricity. 

An estimated 151 million vaccine doses delivered to developing countries this year will spoil because they are not properly refrigerated.

In addition, most vaccines are delivered by injection, which increases the risk that HIV, hepatitis, and other infections could be transmitted by unsterile or reused syringes and needles. An estimated 500,000 serious infections could be avoided this year by using needle-free vaccines.

Recent advances in genetic engineering, chemical engineering and other scientific disciplines could lead to a new generation of childhood vaccines that are effective after a single dose, and do not require refrigeration or needles.

Leading this efforrt is the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative formed in 2003; a partnership dedicated to supporting scientific and technical research to solve critical health problems in the developing world. The initiative's partners are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, and the Wellcome Trust.

R & D Booster Shot

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on Tuesday that it is committing an additional $100 million over five years to create a new fast-track grants initiative to support innovative global health research.  The initiative’s goal is to encourage scientists worldwide to explore creative, unorthodox ideas that could lead to major breakthroughs against some of the greatest health challenges facing poor countries.

The new initiative, called Grand Challenges Explorations, will support hundreds of early-stage research projects – many pursuing ideas that have never before been tested, and involving scientists from a wide range of disciplines.  The Explorations initiative will focus on rapidly evaluating a large number of innovative ideas that could lead to new vaccines, diagnostics, drugs, and other technologies targeting diseases that claim millions of lives every year.

"Until now, when a heart was donated upon someone’s death, the organ was saturated with preservative fluid and stashed in a thermos-type cooler packed with ice. We’ve all seen the images of people in white coats running to or from airplanes, cooler in hand, racing against the clock to get an organ to someone in desperate need...."

Full story

I remember when I was young boy and dreaming of the day when science would invent a two-way wrist radio that I could use where ever I went- like Dick Tracy, or have a movie screen in my living room - like Richie Rich, or program coordinates into a computer which would automatically get me to my destination - like Captain Kirk. Now, cell phones and pagers, flat screen TV's and GPS have made all that seem passe.

Now I dream of the day when someone would invent a self-contained, self-refrigerating beer can so that I could enjoy a frothy, ice-cold mug of my favorite adult beverage anytime, anywhere. Imagine, no refrigerators, bulky beer coolers or need for ice? 

Well, it appears that my dream will soon come true.

In an effort to boost publicity and gain bragging rights in the crowded low-Alcohol beverage market, Miller Brewing Company is betting American consumers are willing to pay a significant premium for the convenience and novelty of such a device and are racing to mass produce the cans in time for next summer.

It's called the Instant Cool Can, or the I.C. Can™ and it is the result of the partnership between Tempra Technology and Crown Holdings.

The design utilizes an elegant combination of thermal, insulating and vacuum heat pump technology. The self-contained aluminum I.C. Can™ is the approximate size of a 500 ml beverage can, including the beverage container itself, and the integral self-cooling device.

The I.C. Can™ applies basic physics and rapid evaporation technology that results in a temperature drop of the containers contents by a minimum of 30° Fahrenheit (16.7° C) in just three minutes. It is activated by twisting the base of the can which breaks an internal seal and exposes a desiccant material contained within a vacuum, to a gelled water substance that surrounds the beverage. The vacuum quickly draws the heat from the beverage through the evaporator matrix and into an insulated heat-sink chamber located at the bottom of the can. It is their patented vacuum-process which lowers the temperature so dramatically and rapidly, leaving the beverage inside cool.

The developers say the design is 100% safe and environmentally benign; easy to operate, store and transport. The I.C. Can™ uses no carbon dioxide, CFC, HFC, or any other compressed gas and is totally non-toxic, without risk of gas or vapor escape.

Miller says to expect the first cans to show up on store shelves in mid-2007. I'll be among the first to say "pass me a warm one, would you?"