Lifeboat Foundation

“You can take any anatomical part and show any of it. You can move it around you can make it kind of translucent so you can see through the outside”

Nice — another step forward for all things connected.

Scientists can now talk to and even command living cells–to a limited degree at the moment, but with massive implications for the future. MIT biological engineers have created a computer code that allows them to basically hijack living cells and control them. It works similarly to a translation service, using a programming language to create a function for a cell in the form of a DNA sequence. Once it’s scalable, the invention has major ramifications. Future applications could include designing cells that produce a cancer drug when a tumor is detected or creating yeast cells that halt their own fermentation if too many toxic byproducts build up.

Continue reading “Scientists Create Language to Program Living Cells” »

Indeed, if we set ethical and safety objections aside, genetic enhancement has the potential to bring about significant national advantages. Even marginal increases in intelligence via gene editing could have significant effects on a nation’s economic growth. Certain genes could give some athletes an edge in intense international competitions. Other genes may have an effect on violent tendencies, suggesting genetic engineering could reduce crime rates.

We may soon be able to edit people’s DNA to cure diseases like cancer, but will this lead to designer babies? If so, bioethicist G Owen Schaefer argues that China will lead the way.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Rw1odkI0Nw8

“An ultimate goal of stem cell research is to turn on the regenerative potential of one’s own stem cells for tissue and organ repair and disease therapy,” said Dr. Kang Zhang of the UC San Diego School of Medicine.

You’ll soon be able to see the future with eyes grown in petri dishes. Scientists in Japan’s Osaka University have found a new way to turn stem cells into a human eyeball in what is (needless to say) a remarkable breakthrough for the medical community. According to lead biologist Kohji Nishida, a small sample of adult skin is all that would be required in order to grow retinas, corneas, lenses, and other key components of the eye.

Continue reading “Stem cell breakthrough allows scientists to grow and assemble human eyes” »

IBM scientists have developed a new lab-on-a-chip technology that can, for the first time, separate biological particles at the nanoscale and could help enable physicians to detect diseases such as cancer before symptoms appear.

As reported today in the journal Nature Nanotechnology*, the IBM team’s results show size-based separation of bioparticles down to 20 nanometers (nm) in diameter, a scale that gives access to important particles such as DNA, viruses and exosomes. Once separated, these particles can be analyzed by physicians to potentially reveal signs of disease even before patients experience any physical symptoms and when the outcome from treatment is most positive. Until now, the smallest bioparticle that could be separated by size with on-chip technologies was about 50 times or larger, for example, separation of circulating tumor cells from other biological components.

IBM is collaborating with a team from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to continue development of this lab-on-a-chip technology and plans to test it on prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men in the U.S.

Continue reading “IBM lab on a chip can sort 20 nanometer nanoparticles such as DNA, viruses and exos” »

It’s the feel good Autopilot story Tesla has been waiting for.

This pill could change treatment for type 2 diabetes forever.

Dr. Aubrey de Grey of the of the SENS Research Foundation explains the OncoSENS approach to curing ALT-Cancer, the corresponding crowdunding campaign (https://www.lifespan.io/campaigns/sens-control-alt-delete-cancer/), and how this is a vital part of overcoming the ill-effects of aging.

This presentation is part of the Designing New Advances conference held by the Institute of Exponential Sciences in the Netherlands, orchestrated by Demian Hoed, and Lotte Van Norte.

Continue reading “Aubrey de Grey Explains SENS Anti-Cancer Strategy and Lifespan.io Campaign at D.N.A. Conference” »

California-based startup Ambrosia is starting clinical trials that will see older people pumped with blood from younger donors, in the hopes of rejuvenating their bodies.

Reversing and eliminating aging has always been one of the true Holy Grails of medical science. Like the search for the rumored Grail, the journey to eliminate aging will be a difficult one– and there is some doubt as to whether it is actually achievable.

Continue reading “Reversing Aging: Clinical Trials For ‘Young-to-Old’ Blood Transfusions Begin” »