《時代》周刊評出2014年度最佳發明

13.The Pillbox that Gets Personal

個性化藥盒

T.J. Parker grew up in a family that owned and operated a pharmacy, he knows firsthand how confusing it can be for people to track which meds to take when, especially if they fill multiple prescriptions. That’s why the e-pharmacy he runs now, PillPack, doesn’t traffic in bottles. Instead, every two weeks, patients are sent a dispenser, which has their medication—all of it—sorted into a ticker tape of tearable packets, organized by date and time.

T?J?帕克在一個經營藥房的家庭中長大。對于人們要記住什么時候該吃什么藥是多么難的一件事——尤其是如果同時要吃多種藥，他有切身感受。這便是為什么他現在經營的電子藥房不銷售整瓶藥的原因。作為替代，藥房每兩周會向患者寄送一個分藥器Pillpack藥盒，里面的藥物都按日期和時間分裝在一撕即開的紙袋中。

14. Bananas that Prevent Blindness

預防失明的香蕉

In sub-Saharan Africa, up to 30% of kids under age 5 are at risk of going blind—among other conditions—for one simple reason: they don’t get enough eye-nurturing vitamin A. But what if the bananas that make up a lot of their diet could be re-engineered to deliver it? Australian biogeneticist James Dale and his team began developing a vitamin-A-enriched “superbanana”. “These bananas could potentially solve” a major health problem, Dale says.

在撒哈拉以南的非洲地區，多達30%的5歲以下兒童存在失明危險，原因包括一個簡單的事實：他們攝入可保護視力的維生素A不夠多。如果在他們飲食中占很大比重的香蕉被改造為含有維生素A，情況會怎樣呢？澳大利亞遺傳生物學家詹姆斯?戴爾和他的團隊開始培育一種富含維生素A的“超級香蕉”。戴爾稱，“這些香蕉有可能解決”一個重大的健康問題。