Lifeboat Foundation

Is the “perfect human” a realistic goal? Well, a new scientific process promises to tweak selected bits of your DNA.

A universal cancer vaccine is on the horizon after scientists discovered how to rewire immune cells to fight any type of disease.

The potential new therapy involves injecting tiny particles of genetic code into the body which travel to the immune cells and teach them to recognise specific cancers.

Although scientists have shown previously that is it is possible to engineer immune cells outside the body so they can spot cancer it is the first time it has happened inside cells.

Continue reading “Universal cancer vaccine on horizon after genetic breakthrough” »

Fighter pilots and brain surgeons have a lot in common. With limited time and a high degree of risk, they must zero in on a dangerous target with the intent to destroy, making sure to minimise any collateral damage.

Perhaps no one understands that relationship better than Alon Geri and Moty Avisar, veterans of the Israeli Air Force and co-founders of Surgical Theatre, an Ohio-based company that brings state-of-the-art virtual reality to brain surgeons.

Physicians in thick black goggles can step inside a patient’s skull, explore the malformed region, craft a strategy for entry, elimination, and exit, and even do dry runs of the surgery itself. When it comes time to make the first incision, there are fewer surprises.

Continue reading “A team of ex-fighter pilots have invented a new way for surgeons look inside brains” »

https://youtube.com/watch?v=LTTX2408n3o

Technology is amazing and can be used to help so many. When I position technology; I do so in showing how it helps folks to combat devastating diseases, live life fully even if they became paralyzed at some point in their life and with technology they can walk again, etc. I caution folks to ensure that when we introduce technology that we explain our message well to the broader masses; or risk not be adopted.

We have to do a better job in explaining how AI, BMI, etc. will help the population. When we present things like BMI, Cell Circuitry, etc. we must market how folks used the technology to combat a disease, a disability, or be able to live a more fuller life, etc. I keep seeing either no message or the wrong message being presented to the masses. Instead of waiting for the technology being available; we must take consumers on a journey of possibilities that they can have with tech.

Continue reading “Religion plays a role in attitudes toward human enhancement technologies” »

Southern US is having a bad summer. Zika in FL and Brain eating amoebas in SC.

CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. — A patient in South Carolina has tested positive for Naegleria fowleri, the so-called “brain-eating amoeba,” The Centers for Disease Control confirmed in a statement.

Health officials think the patient may have been exposed during a July 24 swim at Martin’s Landing in the Edisto River, which runs through the southeast portion of the state through the Ernest F. Hollings Ace Basin National Wildlife park.

Continue reading “South Carolina patient has rare ‘brain-eating’ amoeba, CDC confirms” »

The findings showed that the shrinking of the hippocampus — brain region associated with learning and memory — actually precedes the onset of a change in behaviour — namely the loss of memory. “Until now, no one knew the evolution of these changes. Does the hippocampus shrink before or after memory loss? Or do the two happen handin- hand,” said Sumantra Chattarji, Professor at National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bengaluru, Karnataka, in a statement.

Using rats as a model system which reacts to stress much as humans do, the team studied how the brain changes in structure during stress. The results showed that when under stress, rats develop anxiety-related behaviours and their ability to form memories are affected. In the study, rats were subjected to stress for two hours every day over 10 days. The brains were examined with MRI scans on several days over the course of the study, and their ability to form memories were assessed repeatedly.

After just three days of stress, the hippocampus of every stressed rat had shrunk. “Normally structural changes are seen in the brain after a long time — say 10 to 20 days. Three days doesn’t even count as chronic stress,” Chattarji added. Five days after stress exposure, the rats’ hippocampus-based ability to make memories was tested again. The stressed rats were found to perform almost as well as unstressed rats, the researchers said. “Volume loss and shrinkage has happened, yet spatial memory is still holding up,” Chattarji said.

Continue reading “Brain scan during stress may predict memory loss” »

I see many uses for this such as provider services including front office & hospital admissions, security in assessing people in line or trying to gain entry, etc.

Machines are taking over more and more tasks. Ideally, they should also be capable to support the human in case of poor performance. To intervene appropriately, the machine should understand what is going on with the human. Fraunhofer scientists have developed a diagnostic tool that recognizes user states in real time and communicates them to the machine.

The camera firmly focuses on the driver’s eyes. If they are closed for more than one second, an alarm is triggered. This technique prevents the dangerous micro-sleep at the wheel. “It is not always as easy for a machine to detect what state the human is in, as it is in this case,” says Jessica Schwarz from the Fraunhofer Institute for Communication, Information Processing and Ergonomics FKIE in Wachtberg, just south of Bonn.

Continue reading “Computers will be able to assess humans’ state of mind” »

Big Data and 3D.

3D printing remains one of those technological areas that holds a great amount of fascination. What began as a type of niche market has expanded rapidly in the past few years to encompass nearly every industry out there, from the medical field to manufacturing.

The outlook is a positive one in terms of 3D printing’s future, with Gartner predicting the amount of spending on 3D printers to exceed more than $13 billion in 2018. While 3D printing has always held a lot of promise, one of the factors truly taking the concept to the next level is big data.

Continue reading “Big Data’s Role in 3D Printing” »

Nice.

When we think of synthetic biology, we often think of engineering a cell to give it some useful function. But SEED 2016 had quite a few speakers working outside of a biological cell. Some broke open cells to utilize just the cellular machinery to create “cell-free” systems. Others showed what could be done inside of the computer (in silico) to improve our understanding and prediction of synthetic gene networks. Here, we’re highlighting SEED speakers who showed how both of these approaches can advance synthetic biology.

Cell-free synthetic biology

Continue reading “SEED 2016: What can we do outside of a cell?” »