Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has announced a new initiative called First in the World Challenge. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Aimed at encouraging Indian scientists to come up with innovative ideas for finding solutions to difficult health problems, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has announced a new initiative called “First in the World Challenge”.

The Council, which is the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research and is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world, said that the scheme proposes to foster novel, out of the box, futuristic ideas, new knowledge generation, discovery / development of breakthrough health technologies (vaccines, drugs/ therapeutics, diagnostics, interventions etc.), which has never been thought, tested or tried in the world till date.

“The proposal must have bold research ideas with significant wide-ranging impact and if successful should have potential ‘first of its kind’ biomedical and technological innovations for better health outcomes in the global context,’’ said the Council in its order.

It added that proposals aiming for ‘incremental knowledge’ or ‘process innovation’ will not be funded through this scheme.

The announcement adds that this is a high risk, high reward initiative where the odds of success may be variable.

“But ICMR considers it worth taking the risk to achieve something which no one in the world has ever done before. This program believes in taking big chances for big rewards. Every attempt may not work out, but the successes will bring about a huge revolution in biomedical science,’’ it noted.

The proposals can be submitted by an individual or by a team of researchers (either from a single institute or from multiple institutes). The selection committee will be formed by experts of high repute, innovators, policy makers, scientists with outstanding record of conducting and nurturing research and innovation in the biomedical domain.

Minghao Nie, a researcher of University of Tokyo shows a face mold covered in human skin tissue at his lab in Tokyo, July 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Japanese scientists have devised a way to attach living skin tissue to robotic faces and make them “smile,” in a breakthrough that holds out promise of applications in cosmetics and medicine.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo grew human skin cells in the shape of a face and pulled it into a wide grin, using embedded ligament-like attachments.

The result, though eerie, is an important step towards building more life-like robots, said lead researcher Shoji Takeuchi.

“By attaching these actuators and anchors, it became possible to manipulate living skin for the first time,” he added.

The smiling robot, featured in a study published online last month by Cell Reports Physical Science, is the fruit of a decade of research by Takeuchi and his lab on how best to combine biological and artificial machines.

Living tissue has numerous advantages over metals and plastics, Takeuchi said, ranging from the energy efficiency of brains and muscles to skin’s ability to repair itself.

Looking ahead, the researchers aim to add more elements to the lab-grown skin, including a circulatory system and nerves. That could lead to safer testing platforms for cosmetics and drugs absorbed through the skin.

It could also produce more realistic and functional coverings for robots. Still, there remains the challenge of ridding people of the strange or unnerving feelings evoked by machines that fall just short of being entirely convincing.

“There’s still a bit of that creepiness to it,” Takeuchi acknowledged about the robot. “I think that making robots out of the same materials as humans and having them show the same expressions might be one key to overcoming the uncanny valley.”