Scientists use Google Maps technology to study human body

According to The Washington Post, the technology which drives Google Maps is now being employed for studying the human body in extreme close-ups. Stanford and Brown University researchers have associated with the University of New South Wales and they have started making use of Google Maps algorithms in an attempt to create layered images of the human body, which can be zoomed in as close as nanometers.

The technology will help scientists get extreme close views of internal organs, bones and cells. It is presently used to find out the association between the development of osteoporosis and a cell's behavior.

According to Knoth Tate, one of the project's leaders, this development helps scientists condense a quarter of a century of research into few weeks. New York University gave chance to medical students to digitally study cells in order to experiment with the technology.

According to Professor Knothe Tate, "For the first time, we have the ability to go from the whole body down to how the cells are getting their nutrition and how this is all connected. This could open the door to as yet unknown new therapies and preventions".

It's not for the first time that this technique is being tried. Researchers at Harvard University and Heidelberg in Germany are also using a similar process so as to map neural connections in mice.

The technology is being used by Knothe Tate in order to study osteoarthritis, which is the most common type of arthritis that usually erodes protective cartilage in the hips, knees, hands and spine. The technology helps scientists know how a cell's health affects a disease like osteoporosis.