Discovery of DNA
Maurice Wilkins
When the king of Sweden presented the 1962 Nobel Prize for Medicine, he didn't just give it to those limelight-hogging scientists J D Watson and…
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Category · 20 inventions
Medicine & Health
The disposable syringe, bionic legs and breakthrough diagnostics born in New Zealand labs.
Agriculture & Farming
Sport & Recreation
Medicine & Health
Engineering & Technology
Food & Household
Science & Mathematics
Social & Cultural
Maritime & Transport
Iconic
Tranquilliser Gun
Colin Murdoch
Colin Murdoch (b. 1929, d. 2008) of Timaru was working with colleagues studying introduced Himalayan thar (wild goat-antelope!) populations in New…
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Eve Hypothesis
Dr Allan Wilson
Wilson gained the world attention in 1967 when he used a new technique measuring the “immunological distance” between species, which he had…
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Agar Lady
Dr Lucy Moore
Agar is made from seaweed, boiled down and separated off. The resultant substance is jelly-like and clear, and looks a lot like gelatine, which is…
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Baeyertz Tape
Dr John Baeyertz
You may not know this, but if you go up to a pregnant woman and measure the distance from her pelvic bone to the top of the foetus, you will a/ know…
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Breast Protector
Ces Richie & Wynn Martin
In 1981 Ces Richie, Wynn Martin and Max Rutherford were asked by a nun to help design a way to protect the breasts of the girls playing contact sport…
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Unifoot
David Dell
After having back surgery in 1999 Kiwi David Dell woke up one night with a flash of inspiration for a better way to make walking sticks. ‘I just woke…
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First aortic valve replacement
Sir Brian Barrett-Boyes
Kiwi surgeon Brian Barratt-Boyes (b. 1924, d. 2006) pioneered radical heart treatments at Greenlane hospital.
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Plastic surgery
Harold Gillies & Archibald McIndoe
For over 5,000 allied soldiers in the fields of France, Belgium and other battlegrounds during WW1, luck was not on their side. Facial injuries -…
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Dental Drill
John Walsh
In 1949 NZ dentist John Patrick Walsh (b. 1911, d. 2003) worked with lab staff in Wellington and created a drilling handpiece that was driven by…
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Baby cooling cap
Peter Gluckman
Babies can’t wear a helmet when they are being born – but perhaps they’d like one, even if their mothers wouldn’t. A baby is more vulnerable during…
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Needleless injection
Ian Hunter
There are three main problems with needles.
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CxBladder
David Darling
The basic idea is that cancer in the bladder will form a tumour, and some cells from that tumour will break off and pass out through the urine. The…
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KODE
Steve Henry
Some people describe the KODE system as like 'painting' the substance to make it appear like something it isn't. The uses of the technology are…
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Resetting possum trap
Good nature
First the possum is lured by the smell of some sweet bait mixture.
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STRMix
John Buckleton and Jo-Anne Bright
Up until a couple of years ago, when two or more people's DNA was mixed together in a single sample recovered by the police there is trouble. Not…
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Humidifier
Alfred (Alf) Melville
Working at the DSIR, engineer and inventor Alfred (Alf) Melville (b. 1916, d. 2006) created the first prototype for Dr Matthew Spence at Auckland…
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Disposable Syringe
Colin Murdoch
Murdoch studied pharmacology, married and in 1954 moved to Timaru to set up a pharmacy. Small town life meant that his knowledge and expertise were…
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Homebake
Just because it's illegal doesn't mean it isn't a classic, inventive, No.8-wire, bloke-in-a-shed response to New Zealand's isolation. In the 1970s…
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Smartinhaler
Garth Sutherland
In 2001 Garth Sutherland invented the Smartinhaler to help patients lift their game.
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20 of 202 stories
The whole No.8 wire story is in the book.
Every invention here — and 182 more — told in full, with the people and the laughs, in No.8 Re-Wired by David Downs & Jon Bridges.