Gates Foundation Invests In Some Seemingly Crazy Health Experiments

The most innovative discoveries have often, initially been seen as just plain crazy and if the inventor or scientist had let opinions affect them it might be a very different world.

The Grand Challenges initiative was set up by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation knowing just that.

The recipients, which were revealed recently, include the detection of malaria with a magnet, a tomato with anti viral qualities and even a chicken bred never to catch a bad cold.

The board that decides who gets the one hundred thousand dollar grants includes a board of entrepreneurs, scientists as well as Bill Gates himself and Dr Yamanda.

Yamanda explains that they are well aware that there is not guarantee of success but stresses that area where there are no likely solutions on the horizon, need new impetus and science must look outside the box. The foundation offers further and larger sums of money, if early promise is displayed.

One team of Scientists based in London’s Royal Holloway University are putting together a collection of all the different HIV mutations. Their goal is to ultimately create a vaccine that will protect against all forms of the Aids virus.

Across the country at the University of Exeter, are a bunch of engineers keen to speed up the process of detecting malaria. Their solution is a battery operated object that notes the parasites in the blood by the use of a magnet, radical but it could possibly save many lives in the future.

It is unconventional approaches like these that Yamada believes could make a difference. The Gates research programs that continue over a five year period are looking for a revolution in ideas and a departure from evolution, which in some cases have had no impact whatsoever.