Global Tech Roundup: Medical Researchers Trying to Generate Human Kidneys in Livestock Make Huge Breakthrough

Ejike Kanife
Global Tech Roundup: Medical Researchers Trying to Generate Human Kidneys in Livestock Make Huge Breakthrough

Another exciting week in the tech space just came to an end. As usual we are easing up our focus back home to bring you some global happenings. let’s go.

Medical researchers make major breakthrough

Researchers in Japan working on how to grow healthy human kidneys outside of the human body achieved a major milestone after they successfully grew functional mouse kidneys inside rats from very few donor stem cells.

Attempts to grow rat kidneys in mice have previously proved abortive but when the process was reversed, mice kidney readily formed in the offspring of the rat that was genetically modified.

Researchers are currently studying the process in their bid to discover a way of generating human kidneys in livestock like pigs and cattle. If this is achieved, a lot more lives will be saved and the waiting list for kidney transplants

Apple head of retail and online stores resigns

After five years serving as the head of retail and online stores at tech giant, Apple, Angela Ahrendts is finally leaving the company many people felt she had no business working for in the first place.

https://twitter.com/geoffreyfowler/status/1092907600121745409

Apple’s only female senior executive, Ms Ahrendts joined the tech giants from Burberry, a British fashion megabrand where she was CEO and already earning more than Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook.

Ahrendts changed a lot of things within Apple despite been limited by the company’s strong tech traditions. Whether these limitations finally got to her or the Apple system finally had enough of her is yet unknown but her replacement, Deirdre O’Brien has swiftly been named. We wish her well in future endeavours.

Spotify to Suspend or Terminate Accounts Using Ad Blockers

Music streaming platform, Spotify, is stamping its foot down and taking a harder stance against subscribers who use ad blockers. The company disclosed in March 2018 that about two million users had been using ad blockers on the free version of Spotify. The number is expected to have grown.

“Circumventing or blocking advertisements in the Spotify service, or creating and distributing tools designed to block advertisement in the Spotify service may result in immediate termination or suspension.”

To this end, Spotify is making it clear that all types of Ad blockers, bots and fraudulent streaming activities are not permitted. One can’t really blame them though. Advert is the lifeblood of the media.


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