Indian carpenter with world record 28 fingers and toes in constant fear
An Indian carpenter who has 28 fingers and toes says he has to be extra careful not to slice off one of his extra digits at work.
Devendra Suthar, from Himmatnagar in Gujarat, in western India, has more digits than anyone else on the planet - something that is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records.
A carpenter by profession, the 43-year-old suffers from a condition called Polydactylism. He has seven fingers on each hand and seven toes on each foot - though two of his toes are joined
Scientists who have grown a human EAR on a rat will be able to use them in 5 years
Human ears to could be ‘grown to order’ within five years, claim Japanese scientists who have unveiled a rat with an ear on its back.
The Tokyo and Kyoto university technology could be used to help children born with facial abnormalities, as well as youngsters mauled by dogs.
Adults, including soldiers injured in battle of people who have suffered accidents, could also benef
At the moment, replacement ears are sculpted from cartilage taken from the patient’s ribs.
However, multiple operations are needed, plus the removal of the cartilage is painful and chest never fully heals.
In contrast, the new technique would require just a small sample of cells as starting material.
Plus, the finished ear would be a living thing and so should grow with the child.
The scientists began by turning human stem cells – ‘master cells’ – into cartilage cells.
The lab-grown cartilage was then formed into tiny balls and placed in inside plastic tubes shaped like a human ear on a rat’s back.
After two months, the framework dissolved, leaving behind what looks like a two-inch hear lying flat against the animal’s back.
The technique is one of several being perfected around the world, in the aim of making bespoke replacements for body parts damaged by accidents, ravaged by disease or malformed at birth.
Heartrending picture of baby girl born in India with only half a head and bulbous eyes
A baby girl has been born in India without a head that has
left her with shockingly protruding eyes,
Savitha Rani, 32, from Uttar Pradesh, in
northern India, gave birth to her ‘miracle baby’ on Tuesday
after a natural birth.
But soon after the birth she became the talk of the town due
to her shocking features. A large number of people started
to even gather outside the at Sai Nursing Home clinic in the
hope of seeing the ‘miracle child’.
Two days later, however, the baby girl tragically died of
heart failure.
Opossum miraculously survives after being shot in the head and torso with crossbow arrows
An opossum was found in California on Friday after being
shot in the head and torso with what appeared to be
crossbow arrows,
Riverside County Department of Animal Services were
amazed by the opossum's survival after it was found trying
to remove the arrows near an intersection in the city's La
Sierra neighborhood.
The arrows, described in news release from the department
as 'crossbow arrows', struck the marsupial the the side of
its body and near its right eye.
Animal officials responded to the scene after a caller
reported the wounded animal's location.
'The animal was very alert and you could tell it was trying to
remove the arrows itself,' the department of animal
services's Sgt Cynthia Lee said in the statement.
'The opossum was grabbing the arrow on its side. What a
horrible thing to do to an animal,' she said,
Animal Control Officer Jennifer Selter took the opossum to
the county’s Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter
in Jurupa Valley, where a staff veterinarian immediately
began surgery.
The opossum survived the surgery and is now recovering at
the animal hospital,
The four-year-old girl in India with a tumour on her head the size of a football
'She was a normal child but as she grew, we noticed a lump growing in the middle of her head,' explained her mother Pramila, a domestic worker.
'At first we thought it was just a boil and would go but it only grew bigger with time.
'She would cry if I touch it or lie her down for sleep.'
But her parents could do little but wipe away her tears, as Renu could not have an operation because they did not have the money to see a doctor.
But she was saved by the kindness of strangers, who raised awareness of her plight by posting shocking pictures on social media.
Her story reached Akhilesh Yadav, chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, who asked officials to give Renu a free operation to remove it.
The rare tumour, known as giant occipital encephalocele, was finally cut off by a team of surgeons at King George's Medical University, Lucknow, on December 22.
The tumour, one of only two known cases in the world, had been growing in Renu's occipital region - the part of the brain which controls sight - ever since she was born, said Dr SN Kureel.
But while it was benign, it was still dangerous.
'If it was not operated quickly, the tumor would have grown further and eventually ruptured. If that had happened, she would have lost her life,' Dr Kureel explained.
