Archive for the ‘biotech/medical’ category: Page 2228
Jan 2, 2019
Is it ethical to engineer HIV-proof babies?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, genetics
A Chinese scientist has claimed to use CRISPR to genetically engineer two babies. An expert explains what this means and the ethical implications.
Jan 2, 2019
Scientists have combined a house plant with a rabbit gene. This is why
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, habitats, sustainability
Scientists at the University of Washington (UW) may have found an unexpected way to tackle persistent indoor air pollution: a common houseplant modified with rabbit DNA.
Researchers wanted to find a way to remove the toxic compounds chloroform and benzene from the home, a UW press release explained. Chloroform enters the air through chlorinated water and benzene comes from gasoline and enters the home through showers, the boiling of hot water and fumes from cars or other vehicles stored in garages attached to the home. Both have been linked to cancer, but not much has been done to try and remove them. Until now.
“People haven’t really been talking about these hazardous organic compounds in homes, and I think that’s because we couldn’t do anything about them,” senior study author and UW civil and environmental engineering department research professor Stuart Strand said in the release. “Now we’ve engineered houseplants to remove these pollutants for us.”
Continue reading “Scientists have combined a house plant with a rabbit gene. This is why” »
Jan 2, 2019
Dr. Mikhail Shchepinov, CSO at Retrotope, Inc. USA will speak at the 2019 Undoing Aging Conference
Posted by Michael Greve in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, life extension
“Mikhail first approached me nearly 15 years ago with the totally crazy idea that replacing hydrogen with deuterium in bioactive molecules so as to slow down undesirable chemical reactions. Well, if ever there were a proof that some of the craziest ideas are actually right, it is this one. In the years since, Misha and his company Retrotope have taken this concept from chemistry to yeast to mice and all the way to highly promising clinical results for several hitherto untreatable orphan diseases. I’m looking forward to hearing the latest!” says Aubrey de Grey.
https://www.undoing-aging.org/news/dr-mikhail-s-shchepinov-t…aging-2019
#undoingaging #sens #foreverhealthy
Jan 2, 2019
Scientists to Test New Cancer Treatment on Human Patients in 2019
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biotech/medical
The U.K.’s Telegraph reports that the new treatment, devised by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute in London, uses implanted immune system cells from strangers to fight tumors, instead of old-school cancer treatments like chemotherapy — a new tack in oncology that the researchers say could boost cancer ten-year cancer survival rates from 50 percent to 75 percent.
Immune System
The scientists behind the project explained it as a “do-it-yourself” approach to cancer treatment in interviews with the Telegraph. Instead of relying on chemicals or radiation outside the body to fight tumors, the transplants aim to help the bodies of cancer patients fight the tumors on their own.
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Jan 2, 2019
Breakthrough study explains how the immune system puts cancer cells to sleep
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biotech/medical
An exciting new study, led by a team of Australian researchers, has uncovered how the immune system can keep cancer cells in a dormant state. It’s hoped the breakthrough insight will offer new pathways for research into immunotherapy techniques that can essentially stop a tumor’s growth for an indefinite period of time.
Jan 2, 2019
Anti-aging discovery reveals importance of immune system in clearing old cells
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
A compelling study from the Weizmann Institute of Science has revealed a new anti-aging strategy designed to help the immune system remove old and dysfunctional cells from the body. The initial animal experiments promisingly restored youthful characteristics in old mice, suggesting improving immune system surveillance may be an effective anti-aging therapy.
Jan 1, 2019
Goodbye Surgery? Scientists Just Made Eye Drops that Dissolve Cataracts
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: biotech/medical
Most of us take our vision for granted. As a result, we take the ability to read, write, drive, and complete a multitude of other tasks for granted. However, sight is not so easy for everyone. Indeed, for many people, simply seeing is a struggle.
There are more than 285 million people worldwide who have vision problems. According to the Fred Hollows Foundation, an estimated 32.4 million people around the world are blind. Ultimately, 90% of these people live in developing countries, and more than half of these cases of blindness are caused by cataracts. Indeed, cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world.
Continue reading “Goodbye Surgery? Scientists Just Made Eye Drops that Dissolve Cataracts” »
Jan 1, 2019
The immune system’s fountain of youth
Posted by Jacob Anderson in categories: biotech/medical, life extension
Weizmann Institute of Science. (2018, December 31). The immune system’s fountain of youth: Helping the immune system clear away old cells in aging mice helped restore youthful characteristics. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 1, 2019 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181231103951.htm
Jan 1, 2019
Mark Zuckerberg-Funded Researchers Test Implantable Brain Devices
Posted by John Gallagher in categories: biotech/medical, computing, Elon Musk, mobile phones, neuroscience
Mark Zuckerberg and his pediatrician wife Priscilla Chan have sold close to 30 million shares of Facebook to fund an ambitious biomedical research project, called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), with a goal of curing all disease within a generation. A less publicized component of that US$5 billion program includes work on brain-machine interfaces, devices that essentially translate thoughts into commands.
From a report: One recent project is a wireless brain implant that can record, stimulate and disrupt the movement of a monkey in real time. In a paper published in the highly cited scientific journal Nature on Monday, researchers detail a wireless brain device implanted in a primate that records, stimulates, and modifies its brain activity in real time, sensing a normal movement and stopping it immediately. Those researchers are part of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a non-profit medical research group within the CZI. Scientists refer to the interference as “therapy” because it is designed to be used to treat diseases like epilepsy or Parkinson’s by stopping a seizure or other disruptive motion just as it starts.
“Our device is able to monitor the primate’s brain while it’s providing the therapy so you know exactly what’s happening,” Rikky Muller, a co-author of the new study, told Business Insider. A professor of computer science and engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, Muller is also a Biohub investigator. The applications of brain-machine interfaces are far-reaching: while some researchers focus on using them to help assist people with spinal cord injuries or other illnesses that affect movement, others aim to see them transform how everyone interacts with laptops and smartphones. Both a division at Facebook formerly called Building 8 as well as an Elon Musk-founded company called Neuralink have said they are working on the latter.
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