Lifeboat Foundation

Circa 2019 face_with_colon_three

Multipotent cells are critical to regenerative medicine and its associated deployment strategies. Localizing an abundant source of autologous, adult stem cells circumvents the immunological prohibitions of allogeneity and ethical dilemmas of embryologic stem cells, respectively. Classically, these cells have been described as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). In this chapter, we characterize adipose tissue as a unique source of MSCs because of its ubiquity, redundancy, and procurability. Specifically, lipoaspirates can be minimally processed to provide a heterogenous, cell-dense isolate – the stromal vascular fraction (SVF) – composed of terminally differentiated vessel-associated cell lines as well as putative progenitor cells. These cells have been cultured and expanded, giving rise to a dynamic cell line termed adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs). SVF and ASC cell isolates are often administered by standard clinical routes including parenteral, topical application, and local injection in the clinical translational studies of cardiovascular ischemia, neurological injury, rheumatologic and orthopedic disease as well as advanced wound care and tissue engineering. These clinical applications raise safety concerns specific to administration, sequestration, and tumor growth augmentation. Further studies SVF and ASC cells are necessary to realize their potential in a regenerative medicine capacity.

I always enjoy the perspective of David Wood, and in this session of the London Futurists there is a panel discussion about genetic engineering in the future.

Our DNA is becoming as readable, writable, and hackable as our information technology. The resulting genetic revolution is poised to transform our healthcare, our choices for the characteristics of the next generation, and our evolution as a species. The future could bring breathtaking advances in human well-being, but it could also descend into a dangerous genetic arms race.

Continue reading “Hacking Darwin: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Humanity” »

After biomedical scientists demonstrated that they could make dangerous viruses like influenza even more dangerous, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) implemented a three-year moratorium on funding such research. But a couple of months ago, in December, the moratorium was lifted, and a tight set of rules were put in its place, such as a mandate for oversight panels.

The prospect of engineering a deadly pandemic virus in a laboratory suggests that only a fool would wish away government regulation entirely.

However, as a whole, regulation has done more harm than good in the arena of scientific innovation. The reason is that the sort of person who thinks like a bureaucratic regulator isn’t the sort of person who thinks like a scientist. The sad fact of the matter is that those most interested in the regulatory process tend to be motivated by politics and ideology rather than scientific inquiry and technological progress.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — First is was monkeys, then dogs.

Now, researchers are turning to cows in hopes of developing a treatment for the coronavirus.

Scientists at SAb Biotherapeutics in South Dakota created an embryo via genetic engineering that contains human chromosomes. The embryo was then implanted into cattle. The cows gave birth to calves that internally function similarly to a person, specifically with regards to the human immune system.

Then there is the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19), a multi-institutional initiative that includes The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Allen Institute for AI, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), Microsoft, and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The goal of this initiative is to create new natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to scour scientific and medical literature to help researchers prioritize potential therapies to evaluate for further study. AI is also being used to automate screening at checkpoints by evaluating temperature via thermal cameras, as well as modulations in sweat and skin discoloration. What’s more, AI-powered robots have even been used to monitor and treat patients. In Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic, an entire field hospital was transitioned into a “smart hospital” fully staffed by AI robotics.

Any time of great challenge is a time of great change. The waves of technological innovation that are occurring now will echo throughout eternity. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are experiencing a call to mobilization that will forever alter the fabric of discovery in the fields of bioengineering, biomimicry and artificial intelligence. The promise of tomorrow will be perpetuated by the pangs of today. It is the symbiosis of all these fields that will power future innovations.

In an effort to create first-of-kind microelectronic devices that connect with biological systems, University of Maryland (UMD) researchers are utilizing CRISPR technology in a novel way to electronically turn “on” and “off” several genes simultaneously. Their technique, published in Nature Communications, has the potential to further bridge the gap between the electronic and biological worlds, paving the way for new wearable and “smart” devices.

“Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, we now have an even deeper understanding of how ‘smart’ devices could benefit the general population,” said William E. Bentley, professor in UMD’s Fischell Department of Bioengineering and Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research (IBBR), and director of the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices. “Imagine what the world would be like if we could wear a device and access an app on our smartphone capable of detecting whether the wearer has the active virus, generated immunity, or has not been infected. We don’t have this yet, but it is increasingly clear that a suite of technologies enabling rapid transfer of information between biology and electronics is needed to make this a reality.”

With such a device, this information could be used, for example, to dynamically and autonomously conduct effective contact tracing, Bentley said.

Circa 2019.

Gain of function research was heavily debated amidst many CDC mishaps. It was stopped, and then outsourced to China due to lax regulations. Now we have an outbreak that no one can confirm it’s origin, but the epicenter is in close proximity to a Wuhan lab working on the same pathogen, with direct bat to human transmission.

Knowing this, this story disturbs me, as we have no international protocols and regulations to prevent mishaps. The last thing we need is a lab mishap, and monkeys riding on horses with guns, all pissed off at humans. We are already experiencing the Contagion movie, and biblical plagues like locusts, the last we need is planet of the apes.

Continue reading “Scientists are making human-monkey hybrids in China” »

Ira Pastor, ideaXme life sciences ambassador and founder of Bioquark, interviews Dr. Robert Hariri, MD, PhD, surgeon, bio-medical scientist and highly successful serial entrepreneur in two technology sectors: bio-medicine and aerospace.

Dr. hariri utilizes biomedicine to aid human longevity:

Continue reading “Dr Robert Hariri Talks of Using Stem Cell Therapies for Human Health and Aging” »