Lifeboat Foundation

Thanks to the cocktail of drugs that make up antiretroviral therapy, HIV is no longer a death sentence. But there are downsides to antiretroviral therapy—taking the treatment for many years is expensive, increases drug resistance, and could cause adverse reactions in a patient. And, because the virus stays in reservoirs in the body, the disease can continue to progress in patients if they stop taking their medication.

Now a team of German researchers has found an enzyme that can “cut” the viral DNA out of a cell’s genetic code, which could eradicate the virus from a patient’s body altogether. The proof-of-concept study, published this week in Nature Biotechnology and reported by Ars Technica, was done in mice, but the researchers believe that their conclusions show that this DNA-snipping enzyme could be used in clinical practice. And if it can cut HIV’s genetic code out of a patient’s body, the technique could be a cure for the disease.

The researchers created the DNA-snipping enzyme called Brec1 using directed evolution, an engineering technique that mimics proteins’ natural evolution process. They programmed the enzyme to cut DNA on either side of a sequence characteristic of HIV—a difficult task since the DNA of organisms and of the virus itself mutates often. Still, the researchers identified a well-conserved sequence, then they tested how reliably the enzyme could snip out that sequence in cells taken from HIV-positive patients, in bacteria, and in mice infected with the human form of HIV. After a number of tweaks, Brec1 would cut only that sequence of DNA, patching up the cell’s genetic code once the HIV sequence was cleaved out. After 21 weeks, the cells treated with Brec1 showed no signs of HIV.

Years ago while I was still in college, I was able to experience what it was like working hands on in operations and logistics in retail. And, one of the most frustrating points was having to step away and log things on a desktop or try to locate your scanner to scan things in. I thought how wonderful it would be to be able to scan in receivables with my eyes and how much faster logistics would be. Although this article is from November; it highlights how VR really does improve things for companies, employees, and the quicker turn around time to customers.

A VR supply chain allows manufacturers to design and architect in 3-D, evaluate designs and make critical decisions about new products and customer buying decisions.

Why it is important to think like a criminal when developing AI as well as Cyber Defense. Recently, I shared some insights on how AI could be used by Criminals (not just hackers) and making it extremely hard for the existing legal system to catch criminals. Robots (just like drones recently have been used) could be used in many ways by cartels, robbers & burglars, killers, and even worse. This is why we have to have solid cyber defense plus stop gaps in place for the legal system to diffuse dangers that could be implemented.

ThreatMetrix’s new report has come up with several new insights from the last quarter including the evolution of bot tactics to avoid the traditional defences of lenders and banks.

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Research, innovation, discovery, and evolution that causes amazing science and technology disruptions is a beautiful thing. And, we each have our own story and passion in why and what drives us.

And, occasionally in our drive to make change or disruption happen; reality grounds us back on what is important and why we do what we love. In my own case is to finally see things like cancer eradicated.

A finger prick test for cancer may soon be possible as research have developed a new technology to detect disease biomarkers in the form of nucleic acids, the building blocks of all living organisms.

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We develop a quantum information protocol that models the biological behaviours of individuals living in a natural selection scenario. The artificially engineered evolution of the quantum living units shows the fundamental features of life in a common environment, such as self-replication, mutation, interaction of individuals, and death. We propose how to mimic these bio-inspired features in a quantum-mechanical formalism, which allows for an experimental implementation achievable with current quantum platforms. This study paves the way for the realization of artificial life and embodied evolution with quantum technologies.

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I still get a kick out of these types of articles because it is the classic “Fear of the Unknown” getting folks worked up. A) we don’t have enough information to confirm or not confirm whether humans will totally disappear and morph into a half Human and half machine species. B) it doesn’t scare me at all because I will make the choice if I decide that I want or need an implant. And, if I do, then more than likely it was to help me beat a disease like cancer or to enrich my life somehow just like I would opt for a surgery or procedure today. Nothing more.

However, there is one thing that is certain and that is Quantum Technology itself is going to truly transform everything in our lives. And, I mean EVERYTHING (medical/ healthcare, manufacturing, AI, devices, communications, services, raw materials enrichment, etc.).

Continue reading “Futurologist Dr Ian Pearson says technology is causing humans to ‘evolve’” »

This article was written by Michael Gillings, Darrell Kemp, and Martin Hilbert from the University of California, Davis, and was originally published by The Conversation.

Living things accumulate and reproduce information. That’s really the driving principle behind life, and behind evolution. But humans have invented a new method of accumulating and reproducing information. It’s digital information, and it’s growing at an astonishing speed. The number of people using the internet is growing, as are the devices connected to it through the Internet of Things.

Digital information can copy itself perfectly, increases in copy number with every download or view, can be modified (mutated), or combined to generate novel information packets. And it can be expressed through artificial intelligence. These are characteristics similar to living things. So we should probably start thinking about digital technology as being like an organism that can evolve.

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Welcome to a new age of AI Healthcare
Although we’re in the early release/ deployment stages of the AI doctor experience and compound that with a 10 year evolution of technology and health science being intertwined together as one/ Singularity; could we see a day soon when technology and engineering graduates having their own education include medical school? Definitely could be as we move more into a singularity future and as the many of the routine patient services evolve to AI and Robotics.

Granted, companies hire today doctors and nurses, etc. to consult their engineers and techies; however, Singularity and as we evolve to it, will require engineers and techies to have their own level of a in-depth medical background/ knowledge due to it’s complexity. Now, imagine the change and transformation that will be required across our educational system as well in order for us to be prepared for this new future.

London-based digital healthcare startup, Babylon is an artificially intelligent ‘doctor’ that aims to prevent illnesses before they occur. To do this, the program tracks your daily habits, diagnosis illness based on symptoms and integrating data about heart rate, diet and medical records.

Continue reading “London startup ‘Babylon’ thinks its AI doctor could predict your future health” »

The real opportunities of our future is when we truly integrate technology and genetics/ healthcare together to the point that technology benefits from learning and evolving from what we do in genetics/ healthcare; and genetics/ healthcare truly evolve through technology discoveries and evolution. Does this sound like singularity? Yes; however, this is when we truly see some amazing advancements in both fields. And, several investors (even in Silicon Valley) are investing in technology that is positioned to focus on evolving technology through healthcare.

Scientists have been quietly working for decades to crack the genetic codes that allow humans to live forever, or at least significantly longer.

And judging by the bits of information on this research that is beginning to leak into the mainstream of human discourse, the idea may no longer be far-fetched.

Continue reading “Elites pouring billions into gene-therapy research” »